I saw a montage using videos of the current protests in Belarus played to the tune of the “Wind of Change” cover by Thomas Pedersen and it got me thinking.
The West German Band, “The Scorpions”
wrote the song in 1990 after a visit to the Soviet Union at the height of
Perestroika and the hope that Communism would fall and the Soviet Republics within
the Soviet Union would become free and Democratic.
Communism did fall and the USSR
collapsed in December 1991, but sadly the Dictatorships continued for 9 out of
the 15 of the now independent countries (with the Communist Leaders in power
during Soviet Times simply changing the name of their Political Party and
staying in power.)
Current Post-Soviet
Dictatorships:
1. Russia:
Vladimir Putin (President: 1999-2008 and 2012 – Present Day; Prime Minister: 1999
and 2008-2012)
2. Belarus:
Alexander Lukashenko (President: 1994-Present Day)
3. Kazakhstan:
Nursultan Nazarbayev (President: 1990-2019; Chairman: 2019-Present Day)
4. Azerbaijan:
Ilham Aliyev (President: 2003-Present Day) before that his Father, Heydar
Aliyev (President: 1993-2003)
5. Tajikistan:
Emomali Rahmon (President: 1992-Present Day)
6. Turkmenistan:
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamdow (President: 2006-Present Day) before that, Saparmurat
Niyazov (President: 1990-2006)
Former Post-Soviet
Dictatorships:
1. Ukraine:
Viktor Yanukovych (President: 2010-2014) He was ousted and fled to Russia.
Russia has occupied Crimea and eastern Ukraine since 2014.
2. Uzbekistan:
Islam Karimov (President: 1991-2016)
3. Kyrgyzstan:
Askar Akayev (President: 1990-2005) ousted from power. Then Kurmanbek Bakiyev
(President: 2005-2010) ousted from power.
Current Post-Soviet Democracies
(not including those already listed above):
1. Georgia
(Russia has occupied the Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia
since 2008)
2. Latvia
(now a member of the EU and NATO)
3. Lithuania
(now a member of the EU and NATO)
4. Estonia
(now a member of the EU and NATO)
5. Armenia
6. Moldova
(Russia has occupied the Moldovan territory of Transnistria since 1990.)
Belarus has a real chance to move
from being one of the 6 Current Dictatorships and to becoming the 4th
Former Dictatorships – that is if Russia doesn’t invade and occupy Belarus like
it has 5 other times since 1991. I hope Belarus can succeed in not being invaded and occupied by Russia and become a Democracy.
I couldn’t find the montage I saw
online, but here is the link to Thomas Pedersen’s version of “Wind of Change”
on YouTube:
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