Thursday Screening: February 15, 2024
The criminal enclave on the Mekong River & understanding Moldova's breakaway state
Son of a Diplomat & Thursday Screening are often real downers. I focus on and write about a lot of terrible things happening on the margins of our enormous world. I believe it’s important to chronicle and share the interweaving threads of modern conflict not because I grew up a diplomatic brat, but because as Americans we live so far removed from the frontlines of war. It’s easy to put your head in the sand and pretend the post-Cold War global order is intact when you live in our slice of North America, buoyed by two vast oceans and friendly neighboring allies. But it’s a gloomy world out there and every day people are being killed and repressed by anti-democratic forces.
Maybe I’m being influenced by the positivity themed episode of Shield we just recorded but today I want to focus on something positive as well: tonight the sun will set at 5:47pm EST. Tomorrow? 5:48pm. We’re halfway through February and gaining light everyday. Before you know it the sun will be setting at 8:30pm and we’ll be grilling outside with our loved ones. On that note, on to the screening.
International Crisis Group: Inside South East Asia’s Criminal Empire
I noted in Running Threads last December that Myanmar has overtaken Afghanistan as the global leader in opium production. Myanmar also produces a lot of methamphetamine. These drugs need a market to facilitate sales which an enclave in Laos operated by Chinese criminals has been happy to supply. The International Crisis Group produced a great ten minute explainer on the subject with Senior Adviser on Myanmar, Richard Horsey:
War Graphics: Transnistria War: Moldova’s Pro-Soviet Insurgency
Moldova has been an EU Candidate since 2022 and is toying with the idea of NATO membership. Russia surely has plans to disrupt that westward turn for the small country on the Dniester River should they succeed in capitulating Ukraine. After all, Moscow is no stranger to meddling in Moldova having supported the separatist region of Transnistria since the war in 1992 that saw the breakaway state cement its autonomy:
Thanks for checking out this week’s screening. As a reminder if you ever want to look through past recommendations you can access them all under the Thursday Screening tab at sonofadiplomat.substack.com.