Jaime spoke with Yeal Filus, CRC's new intern and Director's Assistant about Yael's political and environmental initiatives along with her exciting plans for the upcoming year at CRC.
Read moreKeeping Up with the Ambassadors Episode 5: 'The Value of Negotiation and Diplomacy' with Adea Begaj
Georgians Oppose Anti-Democratic Bill | Global Updates, a Rubric by Jaime Musso
On March 8th, thousands of Georgians took to the streets in the capital Tbilisi, waving European flags and chanting ‘No to the Russian law’. The police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters. Two days before the Parliament had adopted a proposal for the so-called ‘Law on Transparency of Foreign influence’. This law would have required that any organization that receives more than 20% of their funds from abroad should be labelled as ‘agent of foreign influence’. This term immediately triggered the population as it reminded them of a similar Russian law that uses the very same term ‘foreign agents’. This law is used by the Russian government to silence and limit the freedom of press. Many foreign governments, including the European Union, clearly communicated how this bill would be an alarming sign of democratic backsliding for Georgia and a threat to its citizen’s freedom. The size of the protests gave a clear signal to the government, who was pushed to retract the bill on March 10th. It also gave a message of hope to the democratic allies and to neighboring countries, demonstrating that people will raise their voice against Russia’s attempt to expand its power.
Georgia is situated in a difficult position, squeezed geographically and culturally between the European Union and Russia. According to a survey conducted by The Economist in 2022, more than 80% of Georgians want to join the EU. In February 2022, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia submitted their applications to become candidates of the UE. This followed following Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which made many post-Soviet countries feel threatened and unsafe. However, Georgia’s application was rejected due to recurrent scandals of corruption, vote buying and reduced freedom of speech. The Freedom House Index highlighted how civil liberties are still not fully protected in Georgia.
This law is once again an attempt of Russia to expand its influence over the post-Soviet bloc, trying to carry on the ideological war that happens with the West. This trend was enhanced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Georgians can relate to the sufferings of the Ukrainians, as their country was also invaded by Russia in 2008. That war was a lot faster but still resulted in the occupation and illegal annexation of 20% of Georgia’s territory. To this day the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are controlled by Russian forces and are inhabited by many of the Georgian filo-russians.
In a period of great global instability and a general fear of Putin’s undemocratic and violent actions, Georgians gave a clear signal that they dream of democracy and oppose totalitarianism. Once again, Putin’s attempt to expand his authoritarian and oppressive power model was met with resistance from the people!
Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of the Indo-Pakistani Partition | Reflections by Jaime Musso on a book about memory and displacement
I was really fascinated by the stories related to the Partition between India and Pakistan. The book by the Indian author Aanchal Malhotra was interesting for me to hear the author talk about her desire to focus on personal stories rather than grand narratives.
Read moreKeeping Up with the Ambasssadors, Episode 4: “Charney Diplomacy Program Experience” with Noa Hirsch
Ambassador Noa shares her experience of 'Charney Diplomacy Program' at Florida Atlantic University and gives advise for future participants to attend the Program. Watch the vlog interview by Jaime Musso with Noa Hirsch.
Read moreYouth protests against Italy’s new far-right government | A commentary by Jaime Musso
Giorgia Meloni is the first Italian woman to be elected as Prime Minister in Italy and leads the most extreme right-wing government since Mussolini’s dictatorship. Exactly 100 years after Mussolini took control over Italy, around 500 protesters in Genova are chanting ‘Resistiamo!’. ‘We resist!’.
Read moreBringing EMIS to a Film Festival | By Jaime Musso
Speaking at a film festival was a great learning experience for me, even if I wasn’t presenting one of my films. I was happy to share how much I changed thanks to the experiences I had at EMIS and working with the Charney Center.
Read more"Left on Turk" - Difficult stories to tell | Thoughts by Jaime Musso
'Left on Turk' is a documentary by Lexi, Jaime and Lydia that shares the stories of the people of the Tenderloin. Their voices form a mosaic of injustice and suffering but also of hope and love, shedding a new light on this area of San Francisco.
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