The big country across the straits...

So far yet so near...

A container ship passes an outlying island…

Host: Look through the binoculars. Mostly Maersk. Heading for Naha I would think.

Guest: Paradise. The garden below, merging into the sea faraway... 

Host: Yes. Nice. But it might not be forever.

Guest: Geopolitics?

Host: Yes. It’s a worry. The big country over there.

Guest: Where would you go if an invasion looked likely?

Host: There’s no way to protect anyone on the island. Sell up for what we could get. Early. Then head back to the mainland.

_________

Voice-over

There is little protection against a big power taking over an island. They can do it with soft power like capital and providing infrastructure. When that doesn’t work, they might fall back on deployment of military materiel. And in a world of burgeoning populations, drum-thumping idealism, egotistical leaders, shrinking resources, finite land area we should expect more attacks. Diplomacy might delay action, but that is a game of carrot and stick.

Helping a crisis from afar

Watching the invasion news…

Sofiya: Outrageous. Villainous. Monstrous. 

Mykhailo: It was unspeakable. Unthinkable. Unbelievable.

Sofiya: Well, there had been signs like the troop buildup on the border. And the rhetoric. There was a hope that it would amount to just more intimidation and psychological warfare.

Mykhailo: Only it turned out not be. Declarations of “I won’t attack” and then the next day invading. 

Sofiya: Well, what to do about the atrocity? How to assist people who fled with nothing from ruined homes? How to help defend the country? How to get the message out?

Mykhailo: Short of going in there, contribute. There are agencies and I’ve even heard of people personally sending money for hotel rooms to accommodate refugees.

________

Voice-over

Supporting humanitarian efforts like UNICEF, medical like Red Cross, feeding the hungry like World Central Kitchen, defence through agencies like Army SOS, media like The Kiyev Independent.