Tyrone Shaw, Northern Vermont University Professor of Journalism, will read a public lecture titled Bastard Republics: a Tour of Weird Places that Technically Don't Exist at Rīga Stradiņš University on Tuesday, 10 April.

Join professor Tyrone Shaw for “Bastard Republics,” a tour of the so-called frozen conflict zones of the former Soviet Union focusing on the break-away republics of Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia, and the Pridnestrovan Moldavian Republic. Borne of the civil wars following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, each of these regions lives under the burden of unresolved conflict, each surviving as an illegitimate state unrecognized by the international community. Each could also be a flashpoint for future wars on the flanks of Eastern Europe.