RECENT
New Year’s Resolutions
By Warsha Autar Warning: This letter contains spoilers of the first episode of Deep Space Nine and the movie New ...
Issue 27: Paradox
In his book The Call of the Wild, Jack London writes, “There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forge unless that one is alive.” As ...
Dear No one,
By Warsha Autar Dear No one, I’m just going to cut straight to the point: I did not like the last piece I wrote. It didn’t feel like a good enough story to end the year with. It just wasn’t the kind of column I wanted to leave you with. Then again, I did not ...
Off the Beaten (Flight) Path
By Indy Udol Hello. I’m Indy, and I am an airplane geek. No, I am not that type of boy from rocket-building club back in High School who somehow aced every physics exam. I’m a traveller seeking to fly on many dangerous airplanes as much as possible. Since I was born, I racked up approximately ...
Russia’s HIV Epidemic
By Tom Hughes When people think of Russia, the usual imagery that comes to mind includes freezing scenery, military power, and Vladimir Putin’s “muscled” body on a photoshopped image of a bear. However, the growing reality is far from this image of health – Russia is in the midst of an HIV epidemic. As of ...
Ukraine’s Frozen Conflict
By Ričards Alans Miezītis / Photos by Elsa Court This April will mark the fourth year of hostilities in the eastern regions of Ukraine. February and March of 2014 saw the conclusion of the Ukrainian revolution and the beginning of unrest in the predominantly Russian-speaking areas of the country. What have been the recent territorial ...
Imagined Love
By Kinan Aldaioub (IRO) If I looked at you, I have already written my poem on your face Yet they could not make it more beautiful than it is And if I heard your voice I desire for the silence of forever So that only it can echo inside me … You sat on the ...
Nationalism, nationality, and ethnicity: a better world without them?
By Tim Jan Rozendaal Today, it is commonplace to make sense of the world in terms of nation states and corresponding ethnic groupings. Usually, when I start a conversation with someone who does not speak Dutch, the where are you from-question is unavoidable. When someone asks me about my nationality, I usually answer that I ...
Interview of the Issue: Jeroen Ketting
Interview conducted by Elsa Court Following the seminar he led on negotiating in intercultural relationships (organised by the BASIS Eurasian Committee), I sat down with Jeroen to collect some of the wisdom he has gathered over 20 years of working as a Dutch entrepreneur in Russia. Where is home for you? Home is wherever I ...
BASIS Music Committee: a couple of ideas on music
By Alfonso Gorostiga If given the task to describe yourself with only one song. Would you be able to do it? What if you were given 10 songs? It would not make it any easier either, would it? For certain, our music taste does reflect our true selves. With music intrinsically connected to the subconscious, ...
Bibi’s Bye Bye Ballad
By Gemma La Guardia In recent months, the president of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has been the subject of a number of ongoing corruption investigations, launched by his own chief of police, Roni Alsheikh. He is embroiled in four separate cases, while his wife, Sara, is being indicted for using public funds for the Netanyahu’s household’s ...
