Mediterranean
Out of Eden Walk: Cyprus
National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek tells host Carolyn Beeler about his first stop after having walked through the Middle East. On Cyprus he found beaches slathered with baking Russians and Brits, a busy port city and a checkerboard of olive groves and yellow hay fields. But he also found the vestigial border line that divides the island’s Greek and Turkish communities.
Italy is caught in the middle of the EU’s tussle with its ‘systemic rival,’ China
Italian populists—skeptical of the value of EU membership—drove Italy to become the first G7 country to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Then the pandemic brought generous EU aid, leaving Italy to reassess who its real friends are and how best to help its economy.
Greece and Turkey sail toward a crisis of sea borders
Greece’s and Turkey’s land borders are fairly clear these days — but claims over the sea are not. When you add recent, underwater gas discoveries to the mix, the decision about who has the right to drill — and where — becomes tangled and complex.
