All posts filed under: Guru

Lao America’s 2017 Year in Review

Published by Saysomphorn Sisavatdy

What a year?! Perhaps propelled and fueled by covfefe, it really felt like the personal and the public occupied some blurred lines in 2017. This year showed us what happens when you throw enough water particles into a vat of hot oil the size of a planet. Is anyone left innocent and unshaken? To those that can make that claim…share that medication before it’s re-allocated to the rich! Take a look below and let us know what we might have missed! January After the US Presidential Election slammed to a close, one of our staffers at Little Laos on the Prairie felt it prudent to address the shocking results…and its massive implications. Not surprisingly, we weren’t the only ones shocked with the results. The Laotian Times also addressed the elections. On January 24, “A Great Place to Have a War: America in Laos and the Birth of a Military CIA” by Joshua Kurlantzick made its way to print. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia W. Patrick Murphy visited the Lao PDR on Jan 16 and 17. He outlined several …

Dear Guru: What’s the meaning behind these Cuban propaganda art posters that were sent to Laos back in the day?

Published by littlelaosontheprairie

This week’s burning question comes in via several emails and comments received when we posted our winner of “Best Public Art Display” on Facebook. It featured artwork from Cuba…sent to Laos during the Vietnam War era. What’s the meaning behind these Cuban propaganda art posters that were sent to Laos back in the day? In the aftermath of World War II, the old world order upended and empires fragmented, giving birth to a new era of nationalism and self-determination among the former colonies. Two opposing ideological blocs arose, the First World capitalist NATO countries and the Second World communist Eastern Bloc, competing for global dominance during this Cold War era. Many of the newly independent Third World states (many former colonies of NATO countries) formed their own neutral Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which sought to maintain good relations with both sides (at least on the surface). Overlapping the broader membership of the Non-Aligned Movement, were other factions working to sway members’ support on various issues, such as the African Union, the Arab League, the Afro-Asian People’s …