Natan Dubovitsky’s “Without Sky”

After looking into the concept of "non linear war" in modern Russia, I have been trying to find the short story that Vladislav Surkov wrote under the pseudonym Natan Dubovitsky.  While a complete English translation is still too elusive for me to find, I have found critical analysis of the story itself.  It is called, "Without Sky," and it describes the way the world is with non linear war through the eyes of a young man.  It is an interesting read, and uses storytelling to describe a genuinely novel strategy, that has proven effective over the past decade for Surkov.

http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue582/cc_without_sky.html

Strategy in Russa

With the recent creation of our group project, we were assigned to look into Russian literature.  Our group decided to focus our attention on Vladimir Nabokov's novel, The Defense. This book focuses on a character obsessed with the game of chess.  Chess, as we all know, is based in complex strategy and tactics to defeat the enemy.  Politics and battle are arenas where strategy is crucial as well, and another Vladimir, Putin this time, is shaking things up. Executing the new concept of "non-linear warfare," is proving to be successful in Russian politics.  This strategy is defined by its shape-shifting nature, and leaves the opponent confused and unsure of what the enemy is really up to.  Will this strategy retain it's momentum?  Or will it come to the same end as the Luzhin defense.

http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/05/05/how-putin-is-reinventing-warfare/

Boko Haram & Nigeria Today

Since we are just getting into the story in All Things Fall where Western Christians start settling in the area, I was curious about the state of Nigeria today when it comes to western influence.  If you have been at all current about the news in Nigeria, then you will know about a terrorist group called Boko Haram.  This name translates rather bluntly to, "Western education is forbidden."  This group at the moment controls two states in Northeast Nigeria.  Even though these events are current, the history between Nigeria and opposition to British colonialism runs deep.

https://news.vice.com/topic/nigeria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_Nigeria

Palms Today

Being shamefully and overwhelmingly undereducated about Africa and its culture, I felt that I needed some socialization to the things that are being referred to often in the story.  One of these examples is palms.  From what can be easily understood from the story, this resource is very important to the everyday life in the tribe, next to yams.  So when a link to the palm oil debate came up on the African news section on the Guardian specifically palm oil.  While browsing through the African news section of the Guardian, I came across a link that stated The Palm Oil Debate. 

The knowledge that I gained from this is that I am more closely tied with Africa and this staple than I originally thought.  And it is not only important in the book, but still, if not more important now since a larger amount of people are dependent and gain from this resource.


Link the The Story of Palm Oil: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/ng-interactive/2014/nov/10/palm-oil-rainforest-cupboard-interactive