Dear Subscribers,
“Barbershop Whispers….Russia” begins with “My Takeaways” on the main topic, followed by the main topic discussion. The last two sections of “Barbershop Whispers…Russia” will be follow-ups from previous publications and emerging events.
In last week’s BWR, I discussed the EU’s decision to begin accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova and the granting of EU candidacy status to Georgia. I also briefly discussed US and EU funding for Ukraine.
In the good spirit of Christmas and Hanukkah, I will take a break from Russian geopolitics and business this week and instead talk about an eclectic variety of books I have read over the years, some more than once, as suggested holiday reads or for your 2024 list.
Next week’s first New Year’s eve edition of BWR will be a summary of 2023 events and my thoughts and expectations in Russiky Mir for 2024.
In the meantime, enjoy the holiday season with family and friends!
My Takeaways:
Books and Books: A form of escape from today’s burning world. Relax the mind with Isaac Asimov and travel with Hari Seldon to the Galactic Empire, or spend a couple of days with Ali and Nino in the turn of the century cosmoploitan Baku.
Rolf Group Seized - Quick Bites: Putin has confiscated the Rolf Group, an iconic auto distribution and retail business started and owned by exiled Russian entrepreneur Sergei Petrov. Unlike the forced sale of Tinkoff Bank Services, this is the first outright seizure of Russian assets by the Putin regime, but will not be the last. This re-distribution of Russian assets to Putin loyalists has only begun and will continue for as long as Putin is in power.
My eclectic list of books for your reading pleasure during the holiday season.
Ali and Nino
A teenage love story, set in Baku (Azerbaijan) on the eve of World War 1, between a Persian Muslim prince and a Georgian princess. Ali Khan Shirvanshir comes from a proud aristocratic family, and he has fallen in love with Nino Kipiani, a Christian girl from an aristocratic Georgian family.
The book depicts a cosmopolitan Baku, comprised of centuries of empire influences – Ottoman, Persian, and Russian. Despite their cultural differences, Ali and Nino are comfortable with each other, and their family and friends ultimately accept their relationship. In the end, WW1 and the chaos brought on by the collapse of empires ultimately separated Ali and Nino.
The book was first published in Vienna in 1937 and allegedly written by Lev Nussimbaum (1905 - 1942), a prolific Jewish writer who often wrote under the pseudonyms Essad Bey and Kurban Saïd.
For anyone interested in gaining insight into the rich cultural history of the Caucasus, this is a classic must and a fun read.
Our Man in Havana
Anyone can be a master spy, as Graham Greene’s character James Wormold demonstrates in Havana when MI6 recruits him.
The book is set in Havana during the Fulgencio Batista regime, and Wormold is a vacuum cleaner retailer whose wife left him. He is trying to make ends meet while supporting a teenage daughter. He accepts the offer to spy for MI6 because he needs the money, but he has no idea what information to collect for his handlers in London, so he fabricates reports using information from local newspapers and invents a network of agents comprised of actual and fictitious people.
At one point, Wormold decides to spice up his reports to London by including drawings of vacuum cleaner parts and passing these on as secret Soviet military installations in the mountains. One thing leads to another, and Wormold is enmeshed in a mess of lies, but he is ultimately awarded the Order of the British Empire and marries a fellow “spy.”
I suspect most, if not all, BWR subscribers have read “Our Man in Havana.” If not, I highly recommend reading it, and if you have read it, read it again. It is hilarious and may remind you, in a good way, of how crazy the world has always been.
Foundation Trilogy: Foundation | Foundation and Empire | Second Foundation
My favorite science fiction, after the Strugatsky brothers “Hard to be a God”. Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy is a brilliant series of science fiction originally published as a series of short stories in 1942–50, and subsequently in three collections in 1951–53. For nearly thirty years, the series stood as a trilogy but was later augmented with two sequels: Foundation’s Edge and Foundation and Earth.
The premise of the stories is that in the waning days of a future Galactic Empire, the mathematician Hari Seldon spends his life developing a theory of psychohistory, a new and effective mathematics of sociology. Using statistical laws of mass action, he can predict the future of large populations. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting 30,000 years before a second empire arises. Although the momentum of the Empire's fall is too great to stop, Seldon devises a plan by which "the onrushing mass of events must be deflected just a little" to eventually limit this interregnum to just one thousand years.
Robot Series: I, Robot | The Complete Robot | Robot Dreams | Robot Visions
From Asimov’s Robot series came the famous “Three Laws of Robots”, presented in the fictional "Handbook of Robotics, 56th Edition, 2058 A.D.”:
The First Law: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
The Second Law: A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
The Third Law: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law
In today’s fast-moving world of generative artificial intelligence, e.g., CHATGPT 4.5, Claude AI, etc., Asimov captures the mind. These stories were written more than 60 years ago, and it seems like Asimov was predicting the future when one reads them today. A brilliant man he was, indeed.
The Basque History of the World: The Story of a Nation
Mark Kurlansky takes one on a journey of history and fine cuisine through the fiercely independent autonomous piece of the Iberian Peninsula, Euskal Herria and often referred to as País Vasco.
This region is the only part of Europe, never conquered by the mighty Roman Empire. The Romans used to contract the Basques as Centurion mercenaries to lead their troops throughout the empire. The Basque origins are unknown but thought to be the original Europeans, and the language – Euskara – is the most ancient in Europe, unrelated to any other European language.
Among the Basques' greatest accomplishments:
Exploration - The Basques were the first Europeans, before the Vikings, to travel to North America.
Gastronomy and agriculture - The first Europeans to eat corn and chili peppers and cultivate tobacco.
Religion - Ignatius Loyola, a Basque, founded the Jesuit religious order.
Business and politics - They introduced capitalism and modern commercial banking to southern Europe.
Great cooking recipes in the book and an entertaining read.
Follow-ups & Quick Bites:
Follow-ups:
US President Biden Signs Executive Order Strengthening US Sanctions Against Russia
As reported by Reuters, Biden signed a new executive order this week, putting new pressure on banks to ensure that their services are not being used to aid Russia's efforts to circumvent sanctions.
The new executive order, signed on Friday, allows the US Treasury to target banks in countries like China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and other countries that may be willingly or unwittingly helping Russia evade sanctions.
Quick Bites
Putin Confiscates Rolf Group from Entrepreneur Sergei Petrov
Putin has ordered the seizure of Russia’s largest auto dealership from exiled former lawmaker and billionaire Sergei Petrov, a presidential decree said Thursday.
The shares of the Rolf Group will be transferred to Russia’s Federal Property Management Agency (Rosimushchestvo), according to the decree.
As opposed to Tinkoff Bank Services, this appears to be the first wholesale confiscation of a Russian-owned business since Putin began seizing the assets of Western companies.
This is only the beginning, as Putin will seize other Russian assets and redistribute them to Putin loyalists.
Vol 1, No 25 - BWR 24.12.2023
Thank you for reading “Barbershop Whispers....Russia” written by Adam A Blanco! “Barbershop Whispers…Russia” is a product of e8Q Technologies, a consultancy with insights on all things Eurasia. Subscribe for free to receive new posts.