The rot at the door of former U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman is emblematic of the new Ugly Americans at the core of this US administration, starting with its boss, Barack Obama. Read on…
Continue reading “Former U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman and the Snowden Factor”
The essential fact about Vladimir Putin is his remarkable ability to grow. The consummate statesman, respectful and yet firm with his opponents, who has dominated both the world stage and domestic politics these past three weeks is worlds apart from the hesitant and inexperienced newly minted President of Russia who famously responded to Larry King’s question about what happened to the submarine Kursk with the tight-lipped remark: “It sank.”
Barack Obama’s decision to put a resolution on military action to a vote in Congress before proceeding with his plans to attack Syria proves the timeless merit of Winston Churchill’s observation that “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.”
Yesterday’s vote in Britain’s House of Commons was a rare case in the history of that august institution when the voice of the people prevailed on a critical issue of foreign policy. Sadly, there is unlikely to be a similar democratic exercise in the US, where foreign policy is on autopilot and the head of state is a marionette of the imperialist-minded Establishment…
Continue reading “On Democracy and Despots: lessons from the Syrian crisis”
“Our credibility to inspire change in Russia depends on our honesty.” Guy Verhofstadt, Keynote Speech at PARNAS conference “European Union and Russian Federation,” Moscow, 7 December 2012
Continue reading “Vote rigging in Estonia: Anti-Russian freedom fighter falls on her own sword”
Refusal to apply common sense to issues of current EU-Russian relations has so far blinded commentators to the peculiar behavior of the Magnitsky Act’s number one lobbyist before the European Union. In the following reportage on a seminar devoted to these matters sponsored by the ALDE bloc and held at the European Parliament building on Wednesday, I propose to break that taboo…
Continue reading “The Indefatigable Bill Browder: Selling the Magnitsky Act to Europe”
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.
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
Continue reading “European Federalism: Right Cause, Wrong People!”
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…
Continue reading “A Russianist Who Cares: Thane Gustafson’s “Wheel of Fortune””
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….
Gilbert Doctorow 