On day three following the terror attacks, the Belgian common front of lighting candles, delivering pious speeches and preaching national solidarity in the face of the terrorist threat finally cracked. The ugly truth of why these attacks took place here is now coming out in dribbles of information in the national media.
Continue reading “Belgian Political Culture and the Terror Attacks in Brussels, 22 March 2016”
Even in the current period of stagnant economy or mild recession, the Russian consumer is not being asked to make great sacrifices, and the commercial classes are not taking advantage of the crisis.
The incoming Trump administration in January 2017 should arrive in office with well-defined plans for resuming arms control talks and negotiating a new security architecture for Europe…
Beware the day before the Ides of March
Carry on, Harvard, in spreading shadows rather than light, in addressing phony issues instead of existential ones….
Continue reading “An Open Letter to Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust”
The problem with describing Russia to suit policy recommendations rather than actually studying Russia and then designing policy is that risks and threats which may actually exist in relations with the subject country are wholly overlooked.
In its article today’s Guardian describes the pending ceasefire in Syria as an “agreement brokered between the two superpowers….” In his many recent public appearances, Vladimir Putin has explicitly denied Russia’s aspirations to be reckoned as a superpower. However, the reality of the present situation in Syria speaks for itself to savvy observers.
Continue reading “The US-Russian Communique on Syria Ceasefire: All the News That’s Fit to Print?”
David Cameron explicitly, and Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite implicitly tell us that the deal struck yesterday on Britain’s relationship with the EU and the EU’s overall prospects for the future hang on one issue: the consensus view on Russia.
Continue reading “Whence the EU compromise with David Cameron on Britain’s “special status”?”
The Russians and all of ‘progressive humanity’ have been jumping up and down about this pseudo-documentary film. The sound bite from one War Room participant that “I wouldn’t mind killing tens of thousands of Russians” has been trumpeted as a major provocation. Baltics politicians on both sides of the issue are furious. However, seeing the film through to its unexpected ending, one is left with big questions about the intentions of its producers and of its high level participants that so far no one has addressed.
The activities of aggressive nationalist and neo-Nazi armed movements in present-day Ukraine are the focal point of Moreira’s documentary. Their existence is not denied by any of his leading critics in France even if they try to find excuses. Meanwhile, the ability of these same nationalist extremists to control parliament on the key questions of war and peace even if their own electoral support is tiny by using intimidation and violence makes a mockery of Ukrainian democracy.
