American recognition of Pridnestrovie? It's already happening...

Last year, an American friend of mine took a trip to Tiraspol where he had car problems. Seeing the car at the side of the highway, a passing truck stopped to help. The truck driver spent nearly half an hour with my friend until he could flag down a passing minibus. Acting as a tow-truck, the minibus tied a rope to the car and towed it 12 km to the nearest gas station. My friend then turned around to thank the bus driver and to pay him for his effort, but - seeing that all was well - he was already gone. There, the mechanic at the station took them in his car and drove for 15 minutes to fix the car, hooked a rope to it, and towed them to a friend's driveway where it could be fixed. In all, he was with them for more than an hour but then also sped off before they could pay or even thank him.

Are those the actions of criminals and hooligans living in a black hole? In Tiraspol, capital of unrecognized Pridnestrovie, it is more like neighbor looking out for neighbor: The average citizens of Pridnestrovie are actually committed do-gooders. For them, doing the right thing is the only thing to do ... as many American visitors already found out.

But Pridnestrovie, or Transnistria as it is also sometimes known, is the victim of a negative propaganda campaign if there ever was one. It has been said if you a tell a lie outrageous enough and loud enough, eventually people will believe it. My American friend did...until he came to see for himself. Now he knows the truth: People in Pridnestrovie bend over backwards to be helpful. If you don't know the language, they will use hand signals or walk us where we need to go; with a smile. It seems we have a greater "human language" in common and, as Americans, the spirit reminds us of a more innocent era of our own country, the USA. In Tiraspol, there is little of the hostility and sullen faces that we see in other parts of the former Soviet bloc. Here, in contrast, the people actually seem happy to be where they are ... even proud. Prices, too, seem more in line with local salaries – which also reminds us of our home country.

Abroad, America is known for "the three evil M's": Mcdonald's, MTV, and materialism. But where America can really set a good example for the rest of the world is when its people export the best of what we have to offer: Our unique American spirit of equal rights, entrepreneur-ism, and the optimistic can-do attitude that has benefited our country in tremendous ways. The United States of America was founded with a unilateral declaration of independence, honoring its people's right to choose their own future and be free from a ruler that they did not want. So was Pridnestrovie.

While our government does not yet recognize the independence and sovereignty of Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, we, as citizens of the United States of America, certainly do. And in a way, that is what really matters: Countries are made up of people and they, the people, have the final say in their own future. The international recognition by the individual citizens of the world of the undeniable legitimacy of Pridnestrovie is as important, and arguably even more important, than government-level recognition.

The author, an American citizen, has visited Pridnestrovie on several occasions. He manages foreign investment capital in Romania and other parts of Eastern Europe.