One’s perception of Finland always depended on where you were coming from…and going to. That truism remains, while in the post-Cold War era everything else one might say about the country and its people has changed. Read on….
Continue reading “Finland, Oy, Oy, Oy! Travel Notes from Karelia”
Since MEP Guy Verhofstadt persists in his folly and plays the cat’s paw to the US State Department in its anti-Russian, hegemonic policies, I return to my admonition to him published on this site on 12 March 2012. Perhaps I was too gentle, and he did not get the point. So let’s be more direct this time: the right honorable gentleman is giving the European Parliament a bad name by his antics. Read on….
Continue reading “Second Open Letter to MEP Guy Verhofstadt”
John Gaddis’s authorized biography of the leading American statesman and public intellectual of the second half of the 20th century, George Kennan, puts in focus current debates over the realist versus idealist management of international affairs, as well as over what personality types are best suited to policy planning versus diplomatic assignments. Read on…
John Lewis Gaddis’s biography of American statesman and scholar George Kennan published in 2011 has brought into new currency the life and thinking of one of the nation’s most extraordinary public figures of the 20th century. In the latest online edition of Foreign Affairs magazine, Naftali takes the new interest in the man who was the only US Ambassador to Russia to be declared persona non grata and find points in common with the plight of the incumbent ambassador Michael McFaul. There is indeed plenty of commonality, but not in the sense Naftali adduces. Read on…
The political science community in the United States has divided opinions on Iran, divided opinions on China, but is lined up like so many ducks in a row in its (mis)understanding of Russia. In what follows, a contrarian speaks out against the latest wrong-minded take on Putin’s political agenda in Foreign Affairs magazine…..
Universal geniuses do not exist in nature, as Guy Verhofstadt’s ill-informed and wrongheaded remarks on the electoral victory of Vladimir Putin demonstrate amply. Read on…
On this day when Russians go to the polls to elect their President for the coming 6 years, of one thing we can be certain: whatever the plurality that Vladimir Putin may obtain (as projected by the most authoritative polls this past week), Western media will find reason to discredit the process for the sake of repudiating his authority and undercutting Russia’s place in the world. If, most improbably, he fails to win outright in this first round of voting, the howls of delight will echo from Whitehall to Foggy Bottom and in many chancelleries in between…Read on
Continue reading “Russia Votes, 4 March 2012: The Information War”
All aspects of Europe’s relations with Russia including the energy dimension inevitably have a strong geopolitical overlay which at times becomes distorting beyond recognition. To put it in terms of everyman’s anecdotal Freud: here we have a cigar which is never just a cigar. Read on….
Continue reading “Russia and European Energy Security: The Inevitable Intrusion of Geopolitics”
The results of the well controlled Arab Spring in Morocco are taking shape before our eyes as the first Islamist-headed government settles down to work. With God’s help, progress towards good governance may yet be made, notwithstanding the headwinds of economic recession blowing in from the Old Continent. Read on…
Continue reading “Year One of the Revolution: Travel Notes from Morocco”
The ongoing scandals surrounding German President Christian Wulff make a mockery of his arrogant denial of Russian aspirations for a visa-free regime with Europe. Read on….
Continue reading “Corruption in High Places: Germany under the Spotlight”
Gilbert Doctorow 