Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
It’s arguable that an opposition leader in Putin-controlled Russia is an even more endangered species than a Christian leader in ISIL-controlled Syria. But the best way to understand why opposition leaders in Russia invariably end up in prison, hopelessly marginalized, or dead is to understand that Putin eliminates them for the same reason the scorpion… Read more.
Ukraine, a new post-war Germany Ukraine is at the epicenter of a global power struggle reminiscent of historical flashpoints. Russia seems hellbent on mirroring Germany’s aggressive expansionist tactics of 1939. Its ongoing attempt to annex Ukraine is eerily reminiscent of Germany’s annexation of Poland. Russian forces in two armored columns captured a key southeastern coastal town near the Russian border Thursday after… Read more.
The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming (back to Cuba)! Russia has quietly reached an agreement with Cuba to reopen a Soviet-era spy base on America’s doorstep, amid souring relations between Moscow and Washington. The deal to reopen the signals intelligence facility in Lourdes, south of Havana, was agreed in principle during President Vladimir… Read more.
Every year Western leaders mark D-Day by hailing The Greatest Generation of Americans, Britons, Frenchmen, and Canadians who “saved the world.” Except that they invariably overlook the role Russians played. This constitutes a historic oversight (or slight). Moreover, it is at the root of much of the resentment that has beset Russia’s relationship with the… Read more.
China signed a landmark deal Wednesday to buy Russian natural gas worth about $400 billion, giving a boost to diplomatically isolated President Vladimir Putin and expanding Moscow’s ties with Asia. (The Associated Press, May 21, 2014) I’ve been forthright in pointing out foreboding analogies between what Hitler did in Europe during the late 1930s and… Read more.
Pro-Moscow insurgents in eastern Ukraine declared independence Monday and sought to join Russia, undermining upcoming presidential elections, strengthening the Kremlin’s hand and putting pressure on Kiev to hold talks with the separatists following a referendum on self-rule. (Associated Press, May 12, 2014) While President Vladimir Putin gobbles up even more of Ukraine, Western leaders are… Read more.
It hardly bodes well for national unity in Ukraine that the pro-Western parliament is now calling not only for closer ties with Europe but also for Yanukovych’s arrest on charges of mass murder. Indeed, bear in mind that the country was virtually split down the middle at the last election in 2010—with those in the West… Read more.
The title of this post says it all. What’s more, I’ve denounced this European appeasement in numerous commentaries. But I summarized my denunciation and presaged what this appeasement portends in “Checkmated on Crimea, Obama Plays for Rest of Ukraine” on March 7, 2014. Europeans appeasing Putin Now comes another case of European appeasement. Germany is refusing to join… Read more.
Reports are that Russia tried to no avail yesterday to get the UN Security Council to debate Ukraine’s complaint about Russian troops violating its sovereignty and territorial integrity behind closed doors. Conspicuously absent from these reports, however, was any reference to China being no less solicitous of avoiding open debate. This was brought into stark… Read more.
I disabled the comments feature on this weblog years ago when it became clear that most people were just using it as a message board to write snarky comments that had nothing to do with what I actually wrote. But this did not stop interested readers from using the CONTACT feature to send relatively informed… Read more.
