DEAR SOPHIA,

THE IMAGE IN THE MAP REFLECTS THE DIVISION BETWEEN WESTERN CATHOLICS AND EASTERN ORTHODOX THROUGH THE TERRITORY CALLED UKRAINE. THE EASTERN COUNTIES WHICH VOTED OVERWHELMINGLY TO INDEPENDENCE BUT WITH THE CAVEAT THAT THE REMAIN LINKED WITH SOVIET RUSSIA IS PART OF THE UNDERCURRENT OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE. WHEN UKRAINE BECAME INDEPENDENT COMPLETELY, IT DID NOT REMAIN CONNECTED TO SOVIET RUSSIA. THAT IS WHY TODAY, RUSSIA IS COMPELLED TO ASSIMILATE BACK THE EASTERN COUNTIES OF ORTHODOX CITIZENS. IT IS CONNECTED TO CONSTANTINOPLE BY THIS METHOD: IN 1453 WHEN MOSCOW BECAME THE THIRD ROME, THEY WERE THE DEFENDERS OF ALL ORTHODOX PEOPLES. THIS PAUSED FROM 1917 UNTIL 1992. UNDER PUTIN, IT HAS BECOME A CENTRAL FOREIGN POLICY TOOL. NOW HERE IS HOW KOSOVO PLAYS INTO IT. THE UNITED STATES CALLED CARVING OUT KOSOVO FROM SERBIA A “SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE” AND AN EXCEPTION. THIS WAS DONE AGAINST THE VEHEMENT PROTESTS OF RUSSIA IN THE 1990S AND WAS FORETOLD TO BE THE CATALYST OF MANY PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE. RUSSIA IS USING THE KOSOVO PRECEDENT AS ITS REASON TO RE-ASSIMILATE THE EASTERN PROVINCES BACK INTO RUSSIA WHICH IT CLAIMS UNDER HISTORICAL PRECEDENT.

THEREFORE, THE UNITED STATES TRIGGERED THE REASONS FOR RUSSIA TO DO WHAT IT IS DOING WITH THE KOSOVO PRECEDENT AND THE BREAKDOWN OF THE INTERNATIONAL ORDER BEGAN WITH THE WAR IN YUGOSLAVIA IN THE 1990S. WAITING PATIENTLY IS CHINA TO MAKE ITS CLAIMS ON TERRITORIES JUST AS IT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL WITH HONG KONG. IT WILL BE SUCCESSFUL WITH TAIWAN.

THE REASON WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU IS AS YOU COME OF AGE ALL THE FOREIGN POLITICS AND POLICIES OF THE PAST EIGHTY YEARS ARE NO LONGER ASSUMPTIONS YOU CAN RELY ON. THE WORLD YOU WILL ENTER AS AN ADULT WILL NOT BEAR ANY RESEMBLANCE TO THE ONE I ENTERED. READ YOUR CLASSICS, READ ABOUT THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR, THE ATHENIAN LEAGUE AND THE RISE AND FALL OF BOTH ROMAN EMPIRES AND YOU WILL BE BETTER PREPARED TO THE WORLD THAT IS APPROACHING.

286

LOVE,

DAD