people from every soviet republic came to vacation in crimea the peninsula was part of the soviet union whether it was russian or ukrainian was of no interest it just didn't matter. for many people here the fact that the soviet union ultimately collapsed on the divergence of its constituent parts is an accident of history a painful failure. think ashore in the genesis of a soap. people one that was no longer split up into separate nationalities but had something of a common identity was a concept repeated like a mantra in the soviet union for many years and i think that idea certainly existed to an extent and is definitely still present in many people's minds today a few four hundred. the future is shaped by the past and in that sense to most inhabitants of crimea russia feels closer than ukraine. if you cut a slot once experts of international law tell us that russia annexed crimea is the author and the demographic picture shows us that roughly sixty percent of its population is russian it's just under twenty five percent ukrainian and twelve percent crimean taught us and that the offi

over to ukraine passed from the russian to the ukrainian soviet republic within the framework of the soviet union. it's difficult to see that as a justifiable lacked the it was a step within the framework of a single state and when one state is suddenly replaced by two independent states it's logical that both will stake a claim. time will pass and the relationship between the two countries will find a form around about the war but the most important thing is that the voices of the people who live here are heard just to get to eat. in the eyes of most of its inhabitants much has changed for the good since russia annexed crimea for them a look back evokes little nostalgic. skop and she says that in time and again throughout the history of crimea there have been efforts to establish an independent state and in that respect we can say that if crimea belongs to anyone who belongs to itself i'm. going to treat god the international talk show for journalists to discuss the topic of the week europe has never been so necessary as today nor so endangered says french president black cotton with

sing also posted critical articles about corruption among lawmakers and officials in the former soviet republic he was convicted of libel after saying he'd been kidnapped and beaten by police. an official in southern nigeria says more than fifty people are missing after a leaky oil pipeline exploded and triggered a stampede a blast caused a massive oil spill in by yells a state on friday near the heavily polluted niger delta the country is one of the world's largest oil producers. at least five civilians and two soldiers have been killed in an exchange of fire between indian and pakistani troops along the border in the disputed region of kashmir tensions have been running high since indian aircraft crossed into pakistan on tuesday to carry out a strike against militants pakistan freed an indian pilot it shot down saying it was a goodwill gesture to lessen tensions. another victim in the decades long conflict a funeral procession winding up the hills of pakistan controlled kashmir. the man was killed in a gunfight between indian and pakistani troops near the disputed firms here that divides kash

sing off posted critical articles about corruption among lawmakers and officials in the former soviet republic he was convicted of libel after saying he had been kidnapped and beaten by the police. and official in southern nigeria says more than fifty people are missing after a leaky oil pipeline exploded and triggered a stampede a blast caused a massive oil spill in by year less us state on friday the heavily polluted niger delta the country is one of the world's largest oil producers. he was president donald trump has lashed out as out his political opponents in a key speech to conservatives trump is under mounting pressure on both domestic and foreign policy after this week's failed north korea summit and the explosive allegations made by his former lawyer and congress today the u.s. president addressed the conservative political action conference its third successive speech to the gathering which for decades has played host to republican leaders at the event from criticize democratic congressional investigations into his affairs. but they fight so hard on this which on this phony deal that

hussain off posted critical articles about corruption among lawmakers and officials in the former soviet republic it was convicted of libel after saying he had been kidnapped and beaten by police. u.s. president has lashed out at his political opponents in a key speech at a conservative conference trump is under mounting pressure on both domestic and foreign policy after this week's failed north korea summit and the explosive allegations made by his former lawyer in congress but at the conference today trump was among friends. little has changed about donald trump's america first show since he first ran for president in twenty six dane this sounded like a campaign launch and it looked like one too in front of an audience of the truest or true believers the president made his case for re-election america is winning again was america is respected again with the end the world knows that that line got a cheer but the president didn't stay on his prepared script for long instead he delivered a rambling address full of surprising insights into his frame of mind and i'm in the white house and i was lone

photographed men and women of all ages in azerbaijan neighbor to iran and former member of the soviet republic each person has a similar pose. as their patient was a part of iran until i was in one thousand century so when i went as i have asian i felt like i was going home and me that never goes back to iran being you know as i have asian was very sort of moving for me and was that aging. as a persian is a multiethnic nation between the caucasus mountains and the caspian sea. here and muslims jews and christians live peacefully side by side. the artist also asked her photo subjects about their notion of home and penned their own says on to their portraits in the home of my eyes searing nature also questions herself. i've lost all flavor of what is the meaning of home by being nomadic or not homeless but the magic and it was a interesting because they're there things that they pointed out to were that what was the essence of the meaning of home to them certain reasons that with never ever allowed them to leave by chance of me questioning them a bad they're in their relationships as a concept o

and ukraine moldova is one of europe's least known countries once it was the richest of the soviet republics for decades the breadbasket of the us i saw. but following the collapse of the soviet union it has fallen on hard times. in one nine hundred ninety two at best a civil war saw a tiny sliver of land break away from moldova to form the new republic of transnistria almost five thousand people lost their lives in the conflict three thousand wounded many made homeless. today transnistria is recognized and really by russia it's a time capsule of what life was like in the glory days of the savior. it's where russia's myself fourteenth only is based just forty minutes from the malaysian capital case nine. troops in a frozen conflict that could heat up any second. told by both the e.u. and the kremlin and it geo political tug of war maldives fragile democracy is under attack that's why we have this phenomenon of captcha because of geopolitical cautious because of geopolitical or he has between america and russia how that's why mr is saying staying here in power and he is laughing. his detracto

bulk of isis fighters actually are foreigners and we have some from europe some from the former soviet republic some from arab countries almost everywhere we have at least eighty nationalities within i salute and far less so i believe that some of them will make it back home and they are going to create problems for their own countries and now in my opinion where as i said has been in fact the third italian entity of ice that has been destroyed in syria now the hunt is going to be for those actually who have survived and they are going to strike back in my opinion because as i said earlier and this you deal with the root causes of this phenomenon we're not going to see that he end of it ok bloom what we know it was just referring there to the experience in iraq and what we learned from that experience because i was defeated or back in two thousand and seventeen in iraq but the group then evolved in kind of reinvented itself. well there's two things the fact that every time one of these jihadi groups metastasizes there's a period of time where they recede and they are planning they are recruitin

and ukraine moldova is one of europe's least known countries once it was the richest of the soviet republics for decades the breadbasket of the us i saw. but following the collapse of the soviet union it has fallen on hard times. in one nine hundred ninety two at better civil war saw a tiny sliver of land break away from moldova to form the new republic of transnistria almost five thousand people lost their lives in the conflict three thousand wounded many made homeless. today transnistria is recognized and really by russia it's a time capsule of what life was like in the glory days of the savior. it's where russia's myself fourteenth only is based just forty minutes from the moldovan capital case nine. troops in a frozen conflict that could heat up any second. told by both the e.u. and the kremlin and the geopolitical took of war moldova's fragile democracy is under attack that's why we have this phenomenon of state because of geopolitical cautious because of geopolitical or he has between america and russia however while mr new guy is saying i'm staying here in power and he is laughing. hi

bulk of isis fighters actually are foreigners and we have some from europe some from the former soviet republic some from countries almost everywhere we have at least eighty nationalities within i salute and fars so i believe that some of them will make it back home and they are going to create problems for their own countries and now in my opinion where as i said has been in fact the third italian entity of ice that has been destroyed in syria now the hunt is going to be for those actually who have survived and they are going to strike back in my opinion because as i said earlier and this you deal with the root causes of this phenomena well i'm not going to see that he end of it ok bloom what we know it was just referring there to the experience in iraq and what we learned from that experience because i was defeated or back in two thousand and seventeen with the group then evolved in kind of reinvented itself well there's two things the fact that every time one of these jihadi groups metastasizes.

more than a million people holding hands the chain they created stretched across three soviet republics. there were no speeches just fifteen minutes of silence at seven pm the fact that everyone managed to find their place was a logistical masterpiece. even the almost the one people were better at organizing themselves back than. even though they had no incident emails or messaging or anything mails messages nothing makes. it's been almost three. decades since the baltic way but carpenter yana scope monice still has his old lot of from back then it's twenty seven years old now so he's pleased every time the engine starts without a hitch. today his wife ellen tina is in charge of the rolled up lothian flag on the back seat. a grandchild sabina's with them. back in one thousand nine hundred nine when half the country stood together sabina was also there she was just two years old. they're driving to cover a village around twenty miles from riga on the way to lithuania. it's a sunday outing into the past to the day when they put their courage to the test. moscow to cry the baltic way as na

and ukraine moldova is one of europe's least known countries once it was the richest of the soviet republics for decades the breadbasket of the us i saw. but following the collapse of the soviet union it has fallen on hard times. in one nine hundred ninety two at better civil war saw a tiny sliver of land break away from moldova to form the new republic of transnistria almost five thousand people lost their lives in the conflict three thousand are wounded many made homeless. today transnistria is recognized and really by russia it's a time capsule of what life was like in the glory days of the savior. it's where russia's myself fourteenth only is based just forty minutes from the mold live in the capital case nine. troops in a frozen conflict that could heat up any second. told by both the e.u. and the kremlin and the geopolitical took of war moldova's fragile democracy is under attack that's why we have this phenomenon of stoke captcha because of geopolitical cautious because of geopolitical or he has between america and russia however while mr new guy is saying i'm staying here in power an

bulk of isis fighters actually are foreigners and we have some from europe some from the former soviet republic some from countries almost everywhere we have at least eighty nationalities within i still ranks and files so i believe that some of them will make it back home and they are going to create problems for their own countries and now in my opinion where as i said has been in fact the third italian entity of ice that has been destroyed in syria now the hunt is going to be for those actually who have survived and they are going to strike back in my opinion because as i said earlier and this you deal with the root causes of this phenomenon we're not going to see that he end of it ok bloom what we know it was just referring there to the experience in iraq and what we learned from that experience because i was defeated or back in two thousand and seventeen in iraq but the group then evolved and kind of reinvented itself. well there's two things the fact that every time one of these jihadi groups metastasizes there's a period of time where they recede and they are planning they are recruiting

bulk of isis fighters actually are foreigners and we have some from europe some from the former soviet republic some from arab countries almost everywhere we have at least eighty nationalities within i salute and fars so i believe that some of them will make it back home and they are going to create problems for their own countries and now in my opinion where as i said has been in fact the third italian entity of ice that has been destroyed in syria now the hunt is going to be for those actually who have survived and they are going to strike back in my opinion because as i said earlier and this you deal with the root causes of this phenomenon we're not going to see that he end of it ok bloom what we know it was just referring there to the experience in iraq and what we learned from that experience because i was defeated or back in two thousand and seventeen in iraq but the group then evolved in kind of reinvented itself. well there's two things the fact the every time one of these jihadi groups metastasizes there's a period of time where they recede and they are planning they are recruiting the

as vladimir putin seeks to impose his ire fisted well over former soviet republics, we must continue to stand with our allies to counter that aggression. i want to commend the work of my friend from virginia, mr. connolly, my friend from ohio, mr. chabot, for their leadership on this issue. by reaffirming congressional support for ukraine's territorial integrity and by holding russia accountable for its continued violation of ukraine sompt, i believe we will continue -- sovereignty, i believe we will continue to stand with ukraine legislatively and most effectively from here and into the future. with that i'll reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. the gentleman from new york is recognized. . mr. engel: it's my pleasure to yield five minutes to the author of this bill, the gentleman from virginia, mr. connolly. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from virginia is recognized for five minutes. concxds con concxds con i thank mr. engel. and i thank the republican manager for his support and i salute my friend from ohio

how can you explain the union of socialist soviet republic?eople think it was fascism and communism that are polar op unit -- polar opposites. i am going to use a word, not street vernacular, the dictionary definition. socialism is a bitch and she whelps fascism and communism. itself -- a reason the person might agree with a lot of things they are saying. there are eventually laws in place where they decide guess what else isn't fair? democracy itself. at the end of the day we can have a true classless society is if they take control of the whole thing. host: one more bit from this harvard paris -- harvard poll saying the youngest voters between the ages of 18 and 24 were also the most likely to say the democratic party back socialism at 71%. conversely, 29% said they see the party as opposed to socialism. you can find that poll online and read it for yourself. you can also comment on it. if this idea. we started by reading mark penn's piece and what he sees are rising dangers within the democratic party. 202-748-8000 if you agree with that id

came from russia the longstanding company was successful during the time of design the soviet union and the new republic of ukraine so guys grandfather also worked at the shipyard. but otherwise i feel torn russia is close to my heart and ukraine is my home i wish they were brothers again as they used to be you but i should be friendship again between russia and ukraine i can't be split into. three ball. but it's bring it over here. at the moment there's only one ship in the dark but there's still some work for sergei and his colleagues. you know the most political i think our manager is trying his best to do something here but in this situation everything depends on the government because. the shipyard workers are worried about losing their jobs it's getting harder for director all of to reassure them. that the money if nothing else but usually i only have eleven months until i retire with a shipyard exist for that long it will it will can you guarantee that i'm really afraid of losing my job. one isn't actually coming here. is your week we've still got twenty days of work to do with this ship. it's ob

andropov, heark on was the driving force in the soviet union's policy towards the federal republic of germany. the back channel guys, they worked for him. memoirs.to read his he points out that andropov was the guiding force. you had also frictions between andopof and gramico. v, and he was gorbachev's mentor. >> thank you. fascinating context to today's events and developments. thank you so much for sharing your insights from the cold war. let me remind all of you next week we will have the art of containment: britain, the united states and anti-communism in southeast asia on march 11. we have a terrific lineup of additional speakers through may. hersheter.e gaile jennifer miller on cold war democracy, united states and japan. we have one of the real big world, robert bob jervis on how statesmen bank on april 4. that's on a thursday. let's give a round of applause. thank you for joining us. to continue the conversation over a glass of wine next door. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org

also clear for us that some guys from the russian federation as well as from the republic on the space of former soviet union left our countries and joined in syria. it's clear for us it would be better to solve this issue outside of my country. i would like to say to you that the united states, yes, is leaving, but you are not protected from a potential terrorist attack and you already suffered from this disaster. many times on many occasions we tried to persuade our american colleagues to cooperate together. we did a lot of after attack on the united states by terrorists. and i am sure that we are doomed for cooperation in this fear in syria. in syria we are very close to defeat daesh. maybe we need a little more time, not just only time, that was mentioned by some officials from your administration when they mentioned that you would need just only one or two days, please don't forget that we have idea l idlib region. you will see i prepared for you and even brought some maps, maps for you, depends on what kind of questions you will raise. if you look at this at syria, there are some fighting over th

of the bad guys, the oligarchs, including putin, against in this legitimate republic of ukrain and putin wants back in the sovietmpire. he wants to rebuild the soviet empire he misses dearly.il and part of getting it back is hiring people that work for money like this guy and manafort.r heetz rar mercenary. they hired an american mercenary to use his influence in the united states government to rebuild the soviet empire. and it's not just brout a judge having warm feelings >> this is not where we talk about presumption of innocence. convicted with serious implications. which is why you have to declare when your are doing foreign lobbying because we have laws that saye we don't want you to run for a campaign while working for foreigners. and i think it's quite serious to see that there laid out in open court and have this mindset. whether you want to call it a certa certa certain elite belt mindset. it's not blameless. that's why there's so many felonies. and if paul manafort was so humiliated, as he said, when was he humiliated? when first got caught and admitted it? when he committed new felonies which have bee

republics that. that there was a certain type of socialist pop music writer david also inviting soviet popping out of and it is has and revival now it and i don't think it's a really long for that time but it's nonetheless a kind of a we had a nostalgia like i don't want to go baghdad about and others saw you know. immediately after the fall of the i don't care of you remember they want that that or even plans to destroy that building but now in a strange way it's a meeting ground for the young people you know what i agree with polish them i've studied them you know this trip easyjet or whatever and i am not a flight many of them but it is security for food by man or to drink tea beer they flew there and they've got it so brutal that in the end of spending they filled me their cracow on beer places cafeteria and he sleeps in the expect that one dogs and english men and forbidden you know i understand them even here in slovenia behavior this i'm sorry to say does not very modern lower class blue to english soccer fans or people who got drunk they can be very violent. there there were absolute racism e

republics that. dad there was a certain type of socialist pop music going to david also inviting soviet pop he was and it is has revived now it and i don't think it's really long before that time but it's nonetheless a kind of a weird nostalgia like i don't want to go baghdad about and others saw you know. immediately after the fall of the. you remember they wanted that or even plans to destroy that building. but now in a strange way it's the meeting ground for the young people you know what i agree with polish. i studied them you know this trip easyjet or whatever and i am not a flight many of them but it is curious for food by man trees or to green tea beer they flew there and they've got it so brutal that in the end they're spending they filled me there on crack oh on beer places cafeteria and he sleeps in the expect that one docs and english men and thought are beaten you know i understand them even here in slovenia. this and started to fade this not very modern lower class blue to english soccer fans or people who got drunk they can be very violent there were absolute racism east i always liked t

republics. the gamble he is making here is that the soviet union can be reformed and that communism can be strengthened. the problem is, once someone gets a taste of this kind of freedom, what do they usually want? student: more of the same. prof. tudda: more of the same, and then independence. while american and soviet relations are improving, by late the problem is, once someone 88 and early 89 when bush comes in, what is happening is that the soviet union and eastern europe are starting to -- the rains are being loosened -- reins are being loosened. one thing i wanted to mention, but the governors island meeting in december of 88, the for that, that, gorbachev had come to the u.n. and addressed the assembly. arguably, one of the most important speeches, i would argue, that gorbachev ever made, other than we are giving up in 1991. anyone know what he said at that speech? an important concession. maybe the only thing more important is when he gave up sdi. he said that we, the soviet union, unilaterally -- remember, the inf treaty is a mutual with -- withdraw. the sf 20's from eastern europe gone. we,

republic, soldiers bearing the flag of nato. the last time soldiers rolled in was '68, then the occupying soviet army. c became the newest members of nato. >> never again will your fates be tossed around like poker chips on a bargaining table. >> wow. 20 years ago today. three post-communist countries officially entered nato. on march 12, 1999, the czech republic, hungary and poland became the first -- three former rivals opened a new path for a military alliance. today's anniversary comes as mitch mcconnell and nancy pelosi have invited the nato general to address a joint session of congress on april 3rd. joining us now, senior fellow on international security, ian b a brzezinski, i sort of know him, he's my brother. and a national security analyst, and now president of the carnegie endowment for international peace, william burns, author of "the back channel," memoir for american diplomacy, a case for its renewal." we'll get to the book in just a moment. ian, evelyn, the panel. when we think of russia, do we think of a military risk to member of nato or do they have a rusting, old arsenal and they're

soviet natural gas. signed the brezhnev final deal in november 1982, on the occasion of brezhnev's last visit to the federal republic, his heavy trucks from west germany for the construction of the pipeline, here is tons of japanese equipment and last -- lost half $1 billion. in thise not allowed deal due to the sanctions from the reagan administration. komatsu was glad to jump in and build this pipeline. this is again in 1980, when the talks took place on the commercial side of the pipeline. again, schmidt went there despite a lot of opposition from the carter administration. they had a tough talk with brezhnev criticizing the soviet intervention. to conveys either not the public image. he did not participate in the signing of these commercial treaties in 1980. he did not want to provoke the carter white house. his policy was determined, but low key. that was crucial. protagonists.wo how much schmidt, and george shultz, and their meeting in san francisco. sad, because schmidt's chancellorship was coming to an end. he was forced to resign in october. just three months after george schulz had a job as secretary of ha

republic of causes . kazakhstan is an oil rich country in central asia it's the size of western europe with an ethnically diverse population of just eighteen million people it gained independence from the soviet union in one thousand nine hundred one but it's remained a close ally of russia which borders it to the north china lies to the east kazakhstan provides a crucial transport hub for chinese products heading to europe and kazakhstan has kept a delicate balance between its neighbors in the west especially the us with which it provides a supply routes into afghanistan. let's bring in our panel for today from al massey in kazakhstan we're joined via skype by yevgeny justice a human rights activist from paris we have alex miller his filly who researches kazakstan as an analyst at the financial risk consultancy i.h.s. market and from washington d.c. we're joined by william courtney who served as u.s. ambassador to kazakstan from one thousand nine hundred two to one nine hundred ninety four gentlemen welcome to you all alex in paris if we can start with you first so the sultan as a buyer for giving up the presidency but not giving up power he will for some time yet be pulling the levers of po

republic of. kazakhstan is an oil rich country in central asia it's the size of western europe with an ethnically diverse population of just eighteen million people it gained independence from the soviet union in one thousand nine hundred one but it's remained a close ally of russia which borders it to the north china lies to the east kazakhstan provides a crucial transport hub for chinese products heading to europe and kazakstan has kept a delicate balance between its neighbors in the west especially the us switch it provides a supply route into afghanistan. let's bring in our panel for today from al massey in kazakhstan we're joined via skype by eve guinea justice a human rights activist from paris we have alex miller his filly who researches kazakstan as an analyst at the financial risk consultancy i.h.s. market and from washington d.c. we're joined by william courtney who served as u.s. ambassador to kazakstan from one thousand nine hundred two to one nine hundred ninety four gentlemen welcome to you all alex in paris if we can start with you first so the sultan as a buyer for giving up the presidency but not giving up power he will for some time yet be pulling the levers of power

republic of causes. kazakhstan is an oil rich country in central asia it's the size of western europe with an ethnically diverse population of just eighteen million people it gained independence from the soviet union in one thousand nine hundred one but it's remained a close ally of russia which borders it to the north china lies to the east kazakhstan provides a crucial transport hub for chinese products heading to europe and kazakhstan has kept a delicate balance between its neighbors in the west especially the us with which it provides a supply routes into afghanistan. let's bring in our panel for today from al massey in kazakhstan we're joined via skype by eve guinea justice a human rights activist from paris we have alex miller his filly who researches kazakstan as an analyst at the financial risk consultancy i.h.s. market and from washington d.c. we're joined by william courtney who served as u.s. ambassador to kazakstan from one thousand nine hundred two to one nine hundred ninety four gentlemen welcome to you all alex in paris if we can start with you first so the sultan as a buyer for giving up the presidency but not giving up power he will for some time yet be pulling the levers of

"i experienced a part of germany controlled by the soviet union and i am happy today that we are united in freedom as the federal republicf germany. we decide our own policies and make our own decisions, which is very good." the contention is that nato is dictating their military policies, not germany. host: that was just in -- guest: that was just an effort to suggest that it can't be a demand. the north atlantic treaty itself recognizes that notion, that these are sovereign decisions and states have to make the decision about what they can provide, but there is the expectation that they will take measures to provide for their own defense and contribute to the common defense and germany has certainly done that. afghanistan, the cold war, they had a very robust establishment. it took a real spending pause after the cold war, but they remain an important contributor to the alliance. i hope they will move forward in that direction, but i understand what she was suggesting, implying somehow that the united states should dictate what germany spends on its own defense. our phone lines are open, (202) 748-8000 is the line for