America’s conduct of foreign relations remains enthralled to Neocon ideology. Only when this false religion is dispatched can the U.S. begin to address lost opportunities with Russia…and with many other powers as well.
Author: gilbertdoctorow
Gilbert Doctorow's latest book, "War Diaries. The Russia-Ukraine War, 2022-2023" is a unique contribution to literature on the war thanks to the author's reports on the Russian home front written during his periodic visits to St Petersburg at a time when Russia no longer issued visas and nearly all Western journalists had left the country. Doctorow's two-volume "Memoirs of a Russianist" published in 2020 also constitutes a category of its own, consisting largely of diary entries rather than reminiscences written decades later.. Volume 2 focuses on the community of 50,000 expatriate managers working and living in Moscow during the 1990s, about which none of his peers has yet to write.
Gilbert Doctorow is a professional Russia watcher and actor in Russian affairs going back to 1965. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (1967), a past Fulbright scholar, and holder of a Ph.D. with honors in history from Columbia University (1975).
After completing his studies, Mr. Doctorow pursued a business career focused on the USSR and Eastern Europe. For twenty-five years he worked for US and European multinationals in marketing and general management with regional responsibility.
From 1998-2002, Doctorow served as the Chairman of the Russian Booker Literary Prize in Moscow. During the 2010-2011 academic year, he was a Visiting scholar of the Harriman Institute, Columbia University.
Mr. Doctorow is a long-time resident of Brussels.
European Federalism: Right Cause, Wrong People!
The recent Spinelli Forum of 25 March in Brussels bore the catchy title “The European Federalism explained to children…and to the heads of State and Government.” After sitting in the auditorium for about 45 minutes even I began to get the idea…Read on
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A Russianist Who Cares: Thane Gustafson’s “Wheel of Fortune”
It is a rare day to find an American-authored work on modern Russian history which meets the simple criteria of deep knowledge of the chosen topic, the author’s readiness to call things as he sees them without sideways glance at the prevailing wisdom and a basic affinity for the people and culture. In his latest monograph, Thane Gustafson meets these desiderata with ease. Read on…
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Iraq in Retrospect: An Open Letter to Gideon Rose, Editor of ‘Foreign Affairs’ Magazine
The feature article in today’s edition of Foreign Affairs online marking the 10th anniversary of American intervention in Iraq represents full confirmation of the damning generalizations about the press and elite behavior set out in Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky’s classic work (1988) Manufacturing Consent. Read on….
The Carnegie Center Moscow: A Nest of Sedition
Judging by a recently published booklet by Lilia Shevtsova, one of the senior officers of the Carnegie Center Moscow, the Carnegie Organization is failing badly on two fundamental points of its mission statement: promotion of peaceful engagement and excellence of research. Indeed the Center has become a nest of sedition domestically in Russia and a promoter of misunderstanding in US-Russian relations. Read on…
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Mario Monti: the Mandarin on Tour
Mario Monti’s presentation of his new book at the Bozar auditorium ten days ago was regrettably short on substance, like the book itself. Monti traded political indiscretions for audience applause. With friends like this, the federalist cause of EU reform has little chance of gaining traction. Read on….
The case for a federal Union: Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Guy Verhofstadt, Debout l’Europe!
The authors’ call for radical reform of the European Union, in effect turning it into a United States of Europe has, regrettably, more passion than reason. A very worthy cause is not adequately served by inconsistencies in logic and tactics. Read on…
Vladimir Putin to the Opposition over rumors of his medical problems: “Don’t hold your breath!”
By his transparency, feistiness, common sense reasoning and earthy, idiomatic language, Vladimir Putin has shown in his three major public appearances of December 2012 that he has no peers on the international political stage. Read on…
Travel Notes from Poland: Observations and Reminiscences
The key conclusion of a 5 day nostalgic return visit to Poland is: don’t believe what your cleaning lady tells you. Read on.
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Harvard 45th Reunion Class Report and the Conduct of U.S. Foreign Policy
The recently issued quinquennial reunion Report of Harvard ‘s Class of 1967 holds a key to understanding how and why the U.S. government gets a free ride to conduct foreign policy without bothersome questioning from citizen activists. Read on….
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