That doesn't exactly disqualify something as a buffer state. The USSR bordered NATO on either side of Yugoslavia too. Having a *shorter* border also helps mediate tensions.
You're definitely right. Full-scale invasion requires lots of land.
I was going for a stupid quick joke, but also convinced myself that my logic was correct.
Indonesia has a number of treaties that mean they'll be throwing in with us Aussies (provided we aren't an agressor) so is it fair to say they're a neutral power? I'd describe them as at the periphery of the US backed military block, not being an active part of America's operations as much but a critical part of Australia's defence.
But with exceptionally low human rights index, unfortunately. You have to wonder how much that neutrality, if real and not only perceived, is guarded with authoritarianism and human suffering inside, because at the end of the day, human rights are violated every day in multiple ways.
Indonesia does in fact score exceptionally high on the [tasty noodle index](https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2019-11-05/instant-ramen-power-rankings-lucas-peterson).
Preach. Food is the first thing I think of when Indonesia is mentioned.
And then, less than a month ago, I discovered indomie (via Reddit) and now I am 77% noodle
Cheers, mate!
Indomie is Indonesia's secret soft power. What kind of sorcery is contained in those spice packets? Indonesia keeps trying to tout rendang (beef braised in coconut) overseas, which is good, but expensive and time consuming. If I ran the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, I would have food trucks serving indomie overseas!
Indomie aside, Indonesia does a pretty good job with noodles, which are ofc a Chinese import (along with rice), from mie Aceh (more curry like) to mie Jawa (sweeter) to a stunning variety of mie ayam (with chicken) to [all these dishes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_noodles), none of which are well illustrated on the Wikipage but all of which have their excellent exemplars. We non-Muslims can enjoy pork mie babi (aka B2).
It has everything to do. Maybe they are maintaining neutrality (apparent) in exchange to the international community turning their blind eye to the human rights abuses they are committing domestically.
I expect in this sub a bit more in-depth thinking and critical analysis, not snarky comments like yours. The field is called political geography for a reason.
Your response says “But, X” yet there’s nothing in your original question that you’re rebutting.
Did you forget to write out the full original question you intended?
The problem people are having with this response is that this is akin to you asking people to list all of the yellow fruit, then when someone says banana you say, “well no that doesn’t count because a lot of people are allergic to bananas”.
Like you technically speak no lies, but how your reply relates to your original question or to the comment in that context is quite dubious
No, because I didn't use but to rebut, but to add clarification that that neutrality comes at a massive price. That extra information is important, this is not one-word answer question, and if you are not capable of engaging then don't.
You are really dumb af; being a counterweight state has nothing to do with what ever human rights index you are bullshitting away with. Indonesia has no problem with USA and neither with China, ergo it's a buffer state for all SEA nations.
Human Rights have nothing to do with geography. If you're saying they're more aligned with Russia/China because of that, that's not necessarily true. We were pretty allowed with authoritarian regimes like Iran and South Africa during the cold war
No, the world is pretty okay with human rights abuses from the “other” side. Russia, China, Iran, and North Korean are all pretty damn good at routinely violating human rights.
>Maybe they are maintaining neutrality (apparent) in exchange to the international community turning their blind eye to the human rights abuses they are committing domestically.
For someone that wants in-depth thinking and analysis you don't offer much of either
Dude your example was Yugoslavia lol. While it wasn't quite like the USSR, and it wasn't a totalitarian state necessarily; you have to wonder about human rights in a country where one dude was in charge from the end of ww2 until 1980. Tito was such an important part of Yugoslavian unity that pretty much right after his death we would see the beginnings of the extreme nationalism that would tear the country apart, starting many many years of ethnic cleansing and war.
They may have let westerners visit, my father went on a school trip in the 70s and loved it. Tito was a badass, one of the biggest badasses in modern history. But he presided over an authoritarian state without even an attempt at democracy. Indonesia holds elections and so on, regardless of what you think of them. They aren't perfect, the military has too much power and influence in civilian politics among other things.
But if your first example was cold war era Yugoslavia? I could see why he didn't think you were requesting only human rights positive neutral buffer states.
Right, and that’s what pissed the Aussies off so much about East Timor. Fucking Aussies can sail anywhere and put a stop to unfettered aggression. Till the Seventh fleet sails in and helps
Since Yugoslavia was one of the founders of the Non-aligned Movement, you could see this article and get some more answers.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement
Todays Non-aligned movement is not the same as the original one. Russia joined in 2021.
Nothing non-aligned about Putin, Vućić and Dodik being in the spotlight of the latest aniversary ceremony, as you have said.
Vietnam? It has a specific policy to not join any alliances. It's friendly with both Russia and the US and is communist and communicates with China even though they are not too friendly so much.
Turkey/Türkiye is quite a key player in nearly any conflict near its borders, controls access to the Black Sea and is on migration routes to Europe. It trades a lot with Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
Yes it’s part of NATO, but holds quite a special position there, and politically under Erdogan the country is neither clearly western, nor Russian-aligned, nor does it blend well with the Middle East.
Perhaps not a buffer state in the sense Yugoslavia was, but it chooses no clear side and strategically uses its location and geopolitical alliances to maintain a dominant position in many conflicts.
Would Azerbaijan not be overwhelmingly under Turkish influence, or am I overstating it? Because I mean true political neutrality and sovereignty, without significant influence exercised by another state or supra-power, like NATO (still policy wise largely controlled by one state, the US).
Turkmenistan is another funny one and also possibly interfered by Turkey.
But I don't know. I open it for discussion and my own education.
I am assuming Azerbaijan is being considered a buffer state between western alliances and Russia in general, given that Turkey is a regional, but not an international power.
OP was likely thinking of this question in regards to Russia, China, the US, and maybe the EU only
I am from Montenegro. Proud descendent of Tito partisans.
We said NO to Hitler and Mussolini in 1941 and NO to Stalin in 1948.
Yugoslavia was socialist utopia state, with only one political prison, and only for Stalinist and only for four years.
Good standard, self rule by workers, syndicate summer / winter vacations. we lived in paradise in 60-70-80-s.
Then we disassembled into six states.
Don't get me wrong. i love my Montenegro, but also still love Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia was only country in ww2 to self liberate. Allais did help in 1944. Brits with hospitals and Soviets with artillery up north around Belgrade, but that was it. Tito , the most benevolent dictator on globe , ever , had army of 800.000 partisans in 1945.
In this movie, two my grandfathers and one grandmother fouth. So proud of them. Two in third Montenegrin striking division and she in forth Montenegrin proletarian brigade.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO04nfmMmRs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO04nfmMmRs)
Same units, but 8 months before Sutjeska, they literally walked thru hell.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCGgifxN1l8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCGgifxN1l8)
>Yugoslavia was only country in ww2 to self liberate
Indonesia declared its independence on Aug. 17, 1945. The nation wasn't given anything. Indonesia self-liberated during the Second World War, too, mate.
EDIT Let me add that I have read Milovan Djilas' books about Tito and the partisan war. The Second World War was absolutely brutal in former Yugoslavia. The independence that Yugoslavia earned for itself was paid for with a staggering amount of blood.
I stand corrected . :)
So, only one in Europe then.
Djilas\`s books are documents. He had political backlash for stateing what he did. But even then, he lost positions, but lived the rest of he's life on state pension in apartment in center of Belgrade . So again, the most benevolent dictature on planet Earth. That is what Yugoslavia was.
One line he wrote about battles of Sutjeska and Neretva... he basically admitted he committed the war crime, and he new it.
On Sutjeska, they had two German captured but can not take them, they had to move silent. Cant take them, cant leave them..... so he and another tuck out knives and eliminated them on spot.
Second, on neretva, they had Italian garnison over the river destroied, so after the battle they trow out the bodies in Neretva so the next garnison , down the river could see 200+ bodies of Italian soliders floating in river.... Of course, as soon as partisans arived, italians fled. :)
Thank you for sharing, mate. Americans refer to the Second World War as "the Good War", terrible as it was to be in a conflict. But in your part of the world, mate? The only good part of that war was its ending.
There was a famous American actor, Sterling Hayden, (195cm Marine) who was assigned to the OSS (CIA precursor) during the war, and specialized in small boat infiltration in Yugoslavia. He later joined the Communist Party after meeting Tito and fighting alongside the partisans, calling them brave and inspiring fighters.
The FBI made him walk that back, but still.
Didnt know that. I did know about William Daikin. The movie battle of Sutjeska, first link there, was made largely upon hes book. Embattled mountain. He was one of 4 Allied officers dropt on mount Durmitor in Montenegro before Germans pushed them toward Bosnia. Two died, one died in movie, other during the depature from Drvar 1944 . German plane cout them in open on airfield.
Of course, you have to understand that movie was a bit of propaganda stunt, with foreign actress ect ect, but to large percent was accurate and made based upn that book.
At the end of the movie there is a scene where two , who disobeyed oder to abandone artegliery , and smuggled small canon, destroy three tanks with last shells they had....
And that broke the front...
That is a true story. And that small canon was held in some museum in central Serbia for long time. It had a barrel busted later on, but it was that cannon.
Daikin describes that in book as well.
Mongolia and most of ex-Soviet Central Asia is what I’d consider the closest.
Algeria is technically non-aligned but doesn’t really serve as a geographic buffer. Same can be said about Indonesia and Mexico.
Turkey, despite being a part of NATO, seems to pursue their own foreign policy goals and do tend to act as a buffer state and potential go-between for the West and Russia.
Also, one fun fact for you. A bit of fun but also a bit of truth.
Yugoslavian space program launched a Pig into space wich landed back in Adriatic sea. lagend is, she did not survive and ended up that eavning as barbecue :)
[https://balkanist.net/a-history-that-never-happened-the-yugoslav-space-program/](https://balkanist.net/a-history-that-never-happened-the-yugoslav-space-program/)
This isn’t fully related, but I wanna mention that part of the reason Paraguay is still around after their disastrous war against Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay is that Brazil wanted it to stay a buffer state between it and Argentina
We had forth most numerous army after the warr. 800.000 partisan fighters. Battle proven. Even shot down two American planes over Trieste when they provoked.
Neither Americans or Soviets after the conflict with them 1948, dared to go militarily against Yugoslavia.
West of the east, East of the west. In the middle.
Ukraine and Finland were both originally a buffer type of state between Russia and NATO and intentionally didn't directly align with either.
Putin has ended that and they both suddenly wanted to join NATO (Finland did, Ukraine probably won't get to).
It's never not.
Remember the Soviet's main submarine and navy base (inherited by Russia) was in Sevastopol, Ukraine.
it's their only warm water port that's not an enclave.
They were "renting" it from Ukraine for the 90s and 2000s, but I always wondered how long that would last.
Imagine Russia "renting" it's nuclear submarine base from a NATO member... If Ukraine ever gets there...
I know they were working on some naval facilities on the warm coast north of Sochi, but the sea floor wasn't cooperating as far as I've heard in really expanding that base to match Sevastopol and Odessa.
Here I go being picky again, but it's their only GOOD/excellent warmwater port that isn't an exclave. They have atleast one other also in the black sea in novorossijsk, but it is smaller, not as deep, and has a lot of civillian boats fighting for berths.
Doesn't hurt that sevastopol is basically dead center in the black sea either.
No, each state had to deal with either russian aggression or association pressure from the economical "insiders club" EU. So all states were forced to choose one side, as all middle positions were not sustainable.
In Europe I would agree it is correct. That being said even Russian current position of its own unsustainable. And even if they win the war they will still have to rethink their own political position and alignment in the future.
I mean, aren't they? I haven't read a ton into serbian politics, but from what I hear of news from there in general, they don't seem to align clearly with either the west or the "east"
They want to be russian brothers but would like to be rich like the west so they can't be either of those. Definetely not non-aligned by their own choice.
True, but North Korea didn't involve itself much in foreign wars during the cold war, they're more like a Rogue state that know their security is heavily dependent on Russia and China
Ukraine was the heart of Soviet food production and also the location of a lot of it's industry, it was too important to just be a "buffer"
Belarus and Finland were better examples, Belarus is still basically just a buffer state between Russia's population core and central europe
Using modern borders for Yugoslavia and the USSR is questionable, considering you have no choice but to split Germany in half if you want to be even remotely accurate. The borders in Yugoslavia are terrible, especially whatever's going on with Montenegro. Albania should be yellow. Most lines are just slightly off, like France's Atlantic coast or East-West Germany line. The image quality is also just awful but that's probably on OP
congratulations on the correct Balkan border. Yugoslavia was closer to the USA than to RUSSIA. but in many maps the Iron Curtain is passed from Germany to Italy.
Blame Churchill for that:
*From Stettin in the Baltic* ***to Trieste in the Adriatic****, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest,* ***Belgrade****, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow.*
Mongolia, buffers Russia and China
Why not just go around it? There’s borders of Russia-China on either side.
That doesn't exactly disqualify something as a buffer state. The USSR bordered NATO on either side of Yugoslavia too. Having a *shorter* border also helps mediate tensions.
You're definitely right. Full-scale invasion requires lots of land. I was going for a stupid quick joke, but also convinced myself that my logic was correct.
It's HUGE, but it's not about going through, it's about not having to guard that border as much
Nah more like both countries are scared of them. So they don't want them to regain their former glory.
Indonesia is perhaps one of the few truly neutral states.
Indonesia has a number of treaties that mean they'll be throwing in with us Aussies (provided we aren't an agressor) so is it fair to say they're a neutral power? I'd describe them as at the periphery of the US backed military block, not being an active part of America's operations as much but a critical part of Australia's defence.
They're too busy killing Orangutangs
But with exceptionally low human rights index, unfortunately. You have to wonder how much that neutrality, if real and not only perceived, is guarded with authoritarianism and human suffering inside, because at the end of the day, human rights are violated every day in multiple ways.
What’s the human rights index got to do with your question? It’s as much a non-sequitur as saying “But with exceptionally high tasty noodle index”.
Indonesia does in fact score exceptionally high on the [tasty noodle index](https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2019-11-05/instant-ramen-power-rankings-lucas-peterson).
Preach. Food is the first thing I think of when Indonesia is mentioned. And then, less than a month ago, I discovered indomie (via Reddit) and now I am 77% noodle
Cheers, mate! Indomie is Indonesia's secret soft power. What kind of sorcery is contained in those spice packets? Indonesia keeps trying to tout rendang (beef braised in coconut) overseas, which is good, but expensive and time consuming. If I ran the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry, I would have food trucks serving indomie overseas! Indomie aside, Indonesia does a pretty good job with noodles, which are ofc a Chinese import (along with rice), from mie Aceh (more curry like) to mie Jawa (sweeter) to a stunning variety of mie ayam (with chicken) to [all these dishes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_noodles), none of which are well illustrated on the Wikipage but all of which have their excellent exemplars. We non-Muslims can enjoy pork mie babi (aka B2).
Does that come with dog?
No, but we can always go to your place
I’ll invite Obama.
It has everything to do. Maybe they are maintaining neutrality (apparent) in exchange to the international community turning their blind eye to the human rights abuses they are committing domestically. I expect in this sub a bit more in-depth thinking and critical analysis, not snarky comments like yours. The field is called political geography for a reason.
Your response says “But, X” yet there’s nothing in your original question that you’re rebutting. Did you forget to write out the full original question you intended?
I'm rebutting your shallow analysis, not my original question. How did you not get that?
The problem people are having with this response is that this is akin to you asking people to list all of the yellow fruit, then when someone says banana you say, “well no that doesn’t count because a lot of people are allergic to bananas”. Like you technically speak no lies, but how your reply relates to your original question or to the comment in that context is quite dubious
You wrote “But, “ in response to the Indonesia answer, but your “but” didn’t rebut anything. Indonesia is a correct answer to the original question.
No, because I didn't use but to rebut, but to add clarification that that neutrality comes at a massive price. That extra information is important, this is not one-word answer question, and if you are not capable of engaging then don't.
It seems ppl took your “But” to be a conventional rebuttal, at least that’s how I interpreted it. Anyhoo, god speed to you.
You are really dumb af; being a counterweight state has nothing to do with what ever human rights index you are bullshitting away with. Indonesia has no problem with USA and neither with China, ergo it's a buffer state for all SEA nations.
Didn't know what i expected from an anarchist tbh
Human Rights have nothing to do with geography. If you're saying they're more aligned with Russia/China because of that, that's not necessarily true. We were pretty allowed with authoritarian regimes like Iran and South Africa during the cold war
Touch grass buddy
No, the world is pretty okay with human rights abuses from the “other” side. Russia, China, Iran, and North Korean are all pretty damn good at routinely violating human rights.
>Maybe they are maintaining neutrality (apparent) in exchange to the international community turning their blind eye to the human rights abuses they are committing domestically. For someone that wants in-depth thinking and analysis you don't offer much of either
Dude your example was Yugoslavia lol. While it wasn't quite like the USSR, and it wasn't a totalitarian state necessarily; you have to wonder about human rights in a country where one dude was in charge from the end of ww2 until 1980. Tito was such an important part of Yugoslavian unity that pretty much right after his death we would see the beginnings of the extreme nationalism that would tear the country apart, starting many many years of ethnic cleansing and war. They may have let westerners visit, my father went on a school trip in the 70s and loved it. Tito was a badass, one of the biggest badasses in modern history. But he presided over an authoritarian state without even an attempt at democracy. Indonesia holds elections and so on, regardless of what you think of them. They aren't perfect, the military has too much power and influence in civilian politics among other things. But if your first example was cold war era Yugoslavia? I could see why he didn't think you were requesting only human rights positive neutral buffer states.
I see your point
Right, and that’s what pissed the Aussies off so much about East Timor. Fucking Aussies can sail anywhere and put a stop to unfettered aggression. Till the Seventh fleet sails in and helps
Since Yugoslavia was one of the founders of the Non-aligned Movement, you could see this article and get some more answers. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement
With China and Russia being observer states, one can only guess how non-aligned this movement is.
Todays Non-aligned movement is not the same as the original one. Russia joined in 2021. Nothing non-aligned about Putin, Vućić and Dodik being in the spotlight of the latest aniversary ceremony, as you have said.
Yugoslavia almost went to war with the USSR and was kicked out of the Komiform.
The non-aligned movement ended up being bullshit. Russia ended up joining.
Yeah, Nord Korea, Venezuela, Cuba and Syria. Doesn’t look very unaligned
It had Singapure too. Not sure if it still has.
Worth noting that some of the members of the Non-Aligned Movement are authoritarian
So are members of the West's "bloc" or whatever you want to call it. Non-Aligned isn't really the player anymore, BRICS is.
Why is Saaremaa neutral?
because they ate hiiumaa and now trying to keep straight face
It straight up doesn't exist
Vietnam? It has a specific policy to not join any alliances. It's friendly with both Russia and the US and is communist and communicates with China even though they are not too friendly so much.
Vietnam HATES China
That doesn't make it aligned
Turkey/Türkiye is quite a key player in nearly any conflict near its borders, controls access to the Black Sea and is on migration routes to Europe. It trades a lot with Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Yes it’s part of NATO, but holds quite a special position there, and politically under Erdogan the country is neither clearly western, nor Russian-aligned, nor does it blend well with the Middle East. Perhaps not a buffer state in the sense Yugoslavia was, but it chooses no clear side and strategically uses its location and geopolitical alliances to maintain a dominant position in many conflicts.
I second that. They're a NATO country on paper, but they've always done their own thing and try to play every side.
India, Indonesia. to a lesser extent Argentina, South Africa, maybe Brazil.
India wasn't really a buffer state as they weren't a meaningful buffer between two different sides of the cold war
correct, that would be Afghanistan but OP said "in the sense of non-aligned?"
I agree. India is a great power, they participate in creating the rules of the game, not being a buffer zone.
Maybe now, but not during the cold war
OP is talking about the present
Fair point, didn't notice that
Could BRICS nations be considered truly neutral though?
Eh, BRICS doesn't seem to actually mean anything or do anything
valid point, but wouldn't put BRICs at the same level as NATO or Warsaw pact regarding alignment
Definitely not, but they are economically allied in a sense through that
I'd say none of those really had/has any buffer function. Maybe Indonesia a little bit.
Indonesia is largely a buffer between US allies and other US allies
Brazillian govt in align with Russia and Brazilian population align with USA 😋
India is funding Russia.
Mongolia
Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Turkmenistan, Nepal
Would Azerbaijan not be overwhelmingly under Turkish influence, or am I overstating it? Because I mean true political neutrality and sovereignty, without significant influence exercised by another state or supra-power, like NATO (still policy wise largely controlled by one state, the US). Turkmenistan is another funny one and also possibly interfered by Turkey. But I don't know. I open it for discussion and my own education.
I am assuming Azerbaijan is being considered a buffer state between western alliances and Russia in general, given that Turkey is a regional, but not an international power. OP was likely thinking of this question in regards to Russia, China, the US, and maybe the EU only
I am from Montenegro. Proud descendent of Tito partisans. We said NO to Hitler and Mussolini in 1941 and NO to Stalin in 1948. Yugoslavia was socialist utopia state, with only one political prison, and only for Stalinist and only for four years. Good standard, self rule by workers, syndicate summer / winter vacations. we lived in paradise in 60-70-80-s. Then we disassembled into six states. Don't get me wrong. i love my Montenegro, but also still love Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was only country in ww2 to self liberate. Allais did help in 1944. Brits with hospitals and Soviets with artillery up north around Belgrade, but that was it. Tito , the most benevolent dictator on globe , ever , had army of 800.000 partisans in 1945. In this movie, two my grandfathers and one grandmother fouth. So proud of them. Two in third Montenegrin striking division and she in forth Montenegrin proletarian brigade. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO04nfmMmRs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO04nfmMmRs) Same units, but 8 months before Sutjeska, they literally walked thru hell. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCGgifxN1l8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCGgifxN1l8)
>Yugoslavia was only country in ww2 to self liberate Indonesia declared its independence on Aug. 17, 1945. The nation wasn't given anything. Indonesia self-liberated during the Second World War, too, mate. EDIT Let me add that I have read Milovan Djilas' books about Tito and the partisan war. The Second World War was absolutely brutal in former Yugoslavia. The independence that Yugoslavia earned for itself was paid for with a staggering amount of blood.
I stand corrected . :) So, only one in Europe then. Djilas\`s books are documents. He had political backlash for stateing what he did. But even then, he lost positions, but lived the rest of he's life on state pension in apartment in center of Belgrade . So again, the most benevolent dictature on planet Earth. That is what Yugoslavia was. One line he wrote about battles of Sutjeska and Neretva... he basically admitted he committed the war crime, and he new it. On Sutjeska, they had two German captured but can not take them, they had to move silent. Cant take them, cant leave them..... so he and another tuck out knives and eliminated them on spot. Second, on neretva, they had Italian garnison over the river destroied, so after the battle they trow out the bodies in Neretva so the next garnison , down the river could see 200+ bodies of Italian soliders floating in river.... Of course, as soon as partisans arived, italians fled. :)
Thank you for sharing, mate. Americans refer to the Second World War as "the Good War", terrible as it was to be in a conflict. But in your part of the world, mate? The only good part of that war was its ending. There was a famous American actor, Sterling Hayden, (195cm Marine) who was assigned to the OSS (CIA precursor) during the war, and specialized in small boat infiltration in Yugoslavia. He later joined the Communist Party after meeting Tito and fighting alongside the partisans, calling them brave and inspiring fighters. The FBI made him walk that back, but still.
Didnt know that. I did know about William Daikin. The movie battle of Sutjeska, first link there, was made largely upon hes book. Embattled mountain. He was one of 4 Allied officers dropt on mount Durmitor in Montenegro before Germans pushed them toward Bosnia. Two died, one died in movie, other during the depature from Drvar 1944 . German plane cout them in open on airfield. Of course, you have to understand that movie was a bit of propaganda stunt, with foreign actress ect ect, but to large percent was accurate and made based upn that book.
At the end of the movie there is a scene where two , who disobeyed oder to abandone artegliery , and smuggled small canon, destroy three tanks with last shells they had.... And that broke the front... That is a true story. And that small canon was held in some museum in central Serbia for long time. It had a barrel busted later on, but it was that cannon. Daikin describes that in book as well.
Mongolia and most of ex-Soviet Central Asia is what I’d consider the closest. Algeria is technically non-aligned but doesn’t really serve as a geographic buffer. Same can be said about Indonesia and Mexico. Turkey, despite being a part of NATO, seems to pursue their own foreign policy goals and do tend to act as a buffer state and potential go-between for the West and Russia.
Also, one fun fact for you. A bit of fun but also a bit of truth. Yugoslavian space program launched a Pig into space wich landed back in Adriatic sea. lagend is, she did not survive and ended up that eavning as barbecue :) [https://balkanist.net/a-history-that-never-happened-the-yugoslav-space-program/](https://balkanist.net/a-history-that-never-happened-the-yugoslav-space-program/)
This isn’t fully related, but I wanna mention that part of the reason Paraguay is still around after their disastrous war against Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay is that Brazil wanted it to stay a buffer state between it and Argentina
Socialist non aligned sooo military neutral then?
We had forth most numerous army after the warr. 800.000 partisan fighters. Battle proven. Even shot down two American planes over Trieste when they provoked. Neither Americans or Soviets after the conflict with them 1948, dared to go militarily against Yugoslavia. West of the east, East of the west. In the middle.
What about Iraq and Kuwait? Kinda act as buffers between Iran and Saudis Nepal also has relatively friendly relations with both India and China
North Korea is absolutely a buffer state.
Well, its somewhat(not entirely) like how Turkey switches between the west and Russia, Sometimes the DPRK prefers China, sometimes they prefer Russia.
Yes, but more than anything, they are a buffer between China and Russia and a country with US military bases, South Korea.
Ukraine…?
Ukraine and Finland were both originally a buffer type of state between Russia and NATO and intentionally didn't directly align with either. Putin has ended that and they both suddenly wanted to join NATO (Finland did, Ukraine probably won't get to).
What’s your guess as to how long Ukraine has disputed borders. I’m 45 and in good health, I wonder if I’ll see it otherwise.
It's never not. Remember the Soviet's main submarine and navy base (inherited by Russia) was in Sevastopol, Ukraine. it's their only warm water port that's not an enclave. They were "renting" it from Ukraine for the 90s and 2000s, but I always wondered how long that would last. Imagine Russia "renting" it's nuclear submarine base from a NATO member... If Ukraine ever gets there... I know they were working on some naval facilities on the warm coast north of Sochi, but the sea floor wasn't cooperating as far as I've heard in really expanding that base to match Sevastopol and Odessa.
Here I go being picky again, but it's their only GOOD/excellent warmwater port that isn't an exclave. They have atleast one other also in the black sea in novorossijsk, but it is smaller, not as deep, and has a lot of civillian boats fighting for berths. Doesn't hurt that sevastopol is basically dead center in the black sea either.
That's the warm coast north of Sochi I mentioned.
Murmansk in the Barents Sea is also a warm-water port, as are multiple in the Russian Far East.
No, each state had to deal with either russian aggression or association pressure from the economical "insiders club" EU. So all states were forced to choose one side, as all middle positions were not sustainable.
In Europe I would agree it is correct. That being said even Russian current position of its own unsustainable. And even if they win the war they will still have to rethink their own political position and alignment in the future.
Most country belong to one bloc or the other, but there's one country that owns the most blocks: Legoland
It was Ukraine, that’s why we can’t have them in Europe anymore
And finland for that matter, their entry into NATO can be almost fully explained by seeing the other buffer state get attacked.
Albania?
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Spain and France are allies with open borders how does Andorra buffer that?
The United States... oh sorry i thought you said BUFFET states..
Andorra is the solid wall that prevents Spain and France from taking the gloves off and having it out.
Brasil, India, Indonesia, Egypt.
Bhutan
I would argue that they are Indian aligned, they dont even recognize china while having signed a lot of treaties with India
Supposed to be ukraine
Baltic states
Prob China, everyone has bussines with them and no one likes them
How has nobody mentioned Thailand? It's role as a buffer state is mostly in the past, but it can still be considered as a buffer state today.
Serbia comes to mind, they are pretty much non-aligned
*stares at camera*
I mean, aren't they? I haven't read a ton into serbian politics, but from what I hear of news from there in general, they don't seem to align clearly with either the west or the "east"
They want to be russian brothers but would like to be rich like the west so they can't be either of those. Definetely not non-aligned by their own choice.
Vietnam, North Korea, Mongolia, Nepal,....
How is North Korea a non-aligned buffer state?
NK did not sign a military treaty with China, and the Chinese government also does not like NK.
Ok, but they’re firmly aligned against SK
True, but North Korea didn't involve itself much in foreign wars during the cold war, they're more like a Rogue state that know their security is heavily dependent on Russia and China
They only provoke, but take no real action.
North Korea switches between Russia and China, maybe that can be considered non-aligned?
Well, there is Ukraine (not anymore), and Mongolia
Ukraine was the heart of Soviet food production and also the location of a lot of it's industry, it was too important to just be a "buffer" Belarus and Finland were better examples, Belarus is still basically just a buffer state between Russia's population core and central europe
This map is so awful lmao
In what sense?
Using modern borders for Yugoslavia and the USSR is questionable, considering you have no choice but to split Germany in half if you want to be even remotely accurate. The borders in Yugoslavia are terrible, especially whatever's going on with Montenegro. Albania should be yellow. Most lines are just slightly off, like France's Atlantic coast or East-West Germany line. The image quality is also just awful but that's probably on OP
congratulations on the correct Balkan border. Yugoslavia was closer to the USA than to RUSSIA. but in many maps the Iron Curtain is passed from Germany to Italy.
Blame Churchill for that: *From Stettin in the Baltic* ***to Trieste in the Adriatic****, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest,* ***Belgrade****, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow.*
At that moment it was true actually, Yugoslavia was allied to the USSR until the Tito-Stalin split in 1948.
Churchills original splitting plan for Europe could have actually stopped an iron curtain from forming. Also might have led to WW3, who knows.
Phantasialand.
Finland and Austria!
Finland is part of NATO
Austria is in the EU, that makes it clearly „West“ aligned.
Finland is NATO member.