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Recently fighting has erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics, in Nagorno-Karabakh, an area in the Caucasus Mountains. The conflict first began over 30 years ago, when Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region within Azerbaijan, sought independence as an ethnic group from the Soviet Union. Armenia eventually took control of much of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as some adjoining areas within Azerbaijan. The region has geopolitical interest for Russia, Turkey, and Iran. Listen to learn what is emboldening Azerbaijan to take action and why one reporter calls this “a very dangerous conflict.”
Story Length: 3:06
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October 28, 2019
3:51
The Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the Middle East without a country of their own. The population is spread among Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and many have been fighting to create an independent Kurdistan. Recently, the U.S. withdrew troops from northern Syria that were protecting the Kurds, and Turkey attacked Kurdish areas because of a longstanding conflict. The Kurds’ ethnic identity and their freedom to express it depend on which country they call home. Listen to the voices of a Kurdish guide and poet explain what it means to be a Kurd and describe the experience of living in the Kurdish region of Iraq.
Read MoreFebruary 11, 2019
5:47
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev signed an important treaty agreeing to a nuclear weapons ban that represented a major milestone in ending the Cold War between the two superpowers. More than thirty years later, that treaty may be falling apart. The U.S. government says that Russia is not in compliance with the treaty and is threatening to withdraw if that does not change. Listen to this interview with a national security expert who explains what this means for national security and the potential threat of a renewed nuclear arms race.
Read MoreApril 19, 2015
7:00
In the wake of the Holocaust during World War II, the word “genocide” was coined, accepted and recognized as a crime. However, the Holocaust may not have been the first modern genocide. Looking back to the World War I, it seems clear that the Ottoman Empire perpetrated a form of genocide against the Armenian population through mass relocation and massacres 100 years ago. Listen to learn more about the Turkish Ottoman Empire during WWI and this dark period of Armenian history.
Read MoreOctober 30, 2014
3:07
What happens to a group of people who have no state to represent them? This happened to the Kurdish population after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire following World War I. The Kurds, a cultural and ethnic group, wanted a unified state but instead European powers split their community among four states - Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. This public radio story can be a great starting point for a conversation about statelessness, identity and minority rights.
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