Mots people reading this article would probably not know what we mean by “hard currency” stores, unless of course you are that bit older and perhaps grew up in China, or the Eastern Block. To put it simply hard currency stores are where you spend “hard currency” for western consumer goods, as opposed to “soft […]

Introduction The Cold War created a lot of what would become former socialist countries, but while most assume these were all in the Eastern Block, many were independent and part if the so called Non-Aligned Movement (Nam). Of these outliers some are fairly well known, such as Yugoslavia, while others are far more obscure! Here’s […]

Communist countries? Socialist Countries? Which countries are still socialist and are there any communist countries left in the world? We take an in depth look at the contemporary situation of left-wing countries, socialist countries and ask the big question: Are there any communist countries in the world? Socialism may be something of a far-off concept […]

Assuming you’ve never lived (A) in any socialist countries or (B) during the Zimbabwean hyperinflation crisis, then money is a very simple thing. You to work, you get paid at the end of the month, and you blow it all in two weeks. You then live off beans and toast for the last two weeks […]

Travel during the Cold War was not for the faint of heart. For those brave, curious, or politically aligned enough to cross into the communist world, it was a trip filled with red tape, strict regulations, and often, a hefty dose of propaganda. Despite the challenges, people did visit the Soviet Union, Eastern Bloc, and […]

The 10 hardest countries to visit often have restrictions for travellers based on their passports and have high requirements to be eligible to enter the country. While certain passports make it easier for people to visit specific countries visa-free, some countries still make it difficult for almost everybody to visit. Below are the top 10 […]

At YPT we get a lot of people that want to go to every country, which by their reckoning means every country in the United Nations (UN). We greatly support this endeavour, but also have some issues to point out. Does this mean that North and South Korea did not count until 1991 and Switzerland […]

I tend to be careful about banding around words such as dictatorship. This is not just for fear of offending people, but also because there are varying degrees of not just what a dictatorship are, but also what constitutes democracy. You can read our charter on this here. This is particularly true when it comes […]

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is one of the most interesting entities for anyone interested in independence struggles, but also and perhaps more pertinent to us, predicting future countries. So, what is the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization and just how and why does it produce the future nations of the earth? Here’s […]

You will read and hear a lot about Assad, the Syrian regime and the ongoing war in the country, but is Syria Socialist? This is a very nuanced question that we will delve into. Background to the politics of Syria  The modern Syrian government stetted came into place during the 1963 coup within the country. […]