An excerpt from Grounded: A Down to Earth Journey Around the World by Seth Stevenson (and more and more). From Le Monde diplomatique, a special section on Reunion, island experiment (and more and more and more and more). Chisinau's charm offensive: Moldova, Europe’s poorest country, looks for friends in the West. Engineer McKinley Conway, How to Start Your Own Country author Erwin S. Strauss, and micro-nation documentarian George Dunford explain the history of the DIY nation. Stranded in Paradise: For the six Uighurs released from Gitmo to Palau, the prospect of an eternity in a small island country, with no passport and no Uighur community other than themselves, is its own kind of confinement. Bhutan's King Charming is an Oxford Man: Meet the monarch hottie who just got the world's newest democratic body. Behold, Newstralia: New Zealand is talking about whether to become part of Australia. A review of Social Theory of the Nation State: The Political Forms of Modernity Beyond Methodological Nationalism by Daniel Chernilo. Africa needs a new map: It’s time to start seeing the redrawing of the continent’s colonial borders as an opportunity, not a threat. A Pacific theater of memories: For a child of World War II, Vanuatu means relics, romance and reflections on reality. Jonathan Last on the depopulation of Greenland: Will the last one to leave turn out the Northern lights? A still-enchanted island: Will Socotra, Yemen’s magical island, manage to stay aloof? European pressure over financial secrecy is obliging one of the continent's microstates to adapt, but there are voices in Andorra itself searching for a different role and identity. Why East Timor has declared war on ninjas. How many countries in the world? The answer to that question is surprisingly difficult.
