The expensive and foolish war was the Kremlin’s own Vietnam.
Key Point: Big powers have difficulties fighting insurgencies in rugged terrain. Here is how the Soviets were defeated, foreshadowing American difficulties a few decades later.
In late 1979, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was torn apart by a civil war pitting the weak Communist government of Hafizullah Amin against several moderate and fundamentalist Muslim rebel armies. The war had been brought about by Amin’s incompetence and corruption, his vicious program of political repression, the massacre of entire village populations, and a ham-handed agrarian “reform” program that disenfranchised tribal leaders. Fearing that Amin would be defeated and replaced by a government of Muslim fundamentalists or even worse pro-American intellectuals, the Soviet Union launched an invasion on Christmas Eve aimed at removing Amin and replacing him with a more reliable strongman.
For All Mankind Season 2 Review: Lunar Cold War Heats Up
It’s 1983, and the Moon is getting militarised. By Akhil Arora | Updated: 19 February 2021 09:00 IST
Photo Credit: Apple
Highlights
A total of 10 episodes, dropping weekly until April 23
Joel Kinnaman, Wrenn Schmidt lead For All Mankind cast
For All Mankind season 2 premiering February 19 on Apple TV+ worldwide continues to explore the ripple effects of the Soviets putting a man (and a woman) on the Moon before the Americans. In some ways, it created a better, equitable world in the USA. Women enjoy a better position at NASA (in spacesuits and in the boardroom) and in society (the Equal Rights Amendment actually got ratified), though the same can t be said about race relations. And as the For All Mankind season 1 post-credits scene revealed, NASA s Sea Dragon dream a two-stage rocket conceptualised in the ‘60s as the pathway to manned Mars missions before funding was scrapped
Caspian Friendship: too little too late [NGW Magazine]
Feb 19, 2021 7:15:am
Summary Among the legacies of the Soviet Union is the failure to develop certain Caspian Sea reserves. Cross-border rivalries persist, despite agreements on paper.
by: Joseph Murphy
Since the end of the Soviet Union, the development of some of the Caspian Sea’s substantial oil and gas reserves has been stifled by territorial disputes between the five littoral states. All but Iran are former members of the USSR.
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia have divided the northern Caspian among themselves through bilateral agreements based on median lines, allowing them to push ahead with some major projects. Other areas of the sea remain contested, though, with Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan all having competing claims. But there have been indications in recent years that those three countries are finally adopting a more pr.
Blast From the Past: Mil V-12, the Largest, Most Useless Helicopter Ever 16 Feb 2021, 14:30 UTC ·
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When it comes to world records and unusual accomplishments, you can always turn to the Guinness Book of World Records or, as is the case with this episode of Blast From the Past, to Soviet Russia. Back in the ‘60s, the USSR designed and build the largest helicopter in the world, a title that still holds, which went on to set eight different world records – four of which are still current.
It was also completely useless.
Pour one out for the Mil V-12, or “Homer” by its NATO codename. Built by Mil Design Bureau, this humongous aircraft had the capacity to carry 196 passengers in its cargo bay or airlift up to 40,000 kg (88,000 pounds) and fly as high as 2,255 m (7,398 feet) with this kind of payload. It was huge, a true engineering wonder and, by the time the second prototype was built and supposed to go into production, it had been rendered useless.
Could all of our languages have come for the stars? We chat about the startling yet controversial research of an obscure German scientist who held the bold theory that our language is from the Pleiades.
What are the linguistic secrets of ancient German, Basque, Estonian, Maori and Australian Aboriginal? Do their similar use of sounds give is a clue to a universal original language carried to the Earth by ancient spacefarers? The conclusions are more convincing that you will expect.
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