At the recently concluded Hague NATO Summit, the promise of an “irreversible path” for Ukraine to “NATO membership” was dropped from the Summit Declaration.
VIDEO: Rand Paul on the threat of massive tariffs on Russia
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) slams Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) bill threatening massive tariffs on anyone who buys oil from Russia.
Pascal Lottaz: It’s Already A World War. And It Will Get Worse, says Russian scholar
The following is an assessment of an article written by Dmitri Trenin who is arguing today that we are already inside World War III.
Ian Proud: Russia sanctions & new weapons, is Trump stuck in Groundhog Day?
President Trump finds himself in a rerun of his first term on Ukraine policy. Declawed by lawmakers in D.C. and forced to push policies that worsen the U.S. relationship with Russia.
VIDEO: The State Dept’s Censorship Arm–An Animated History
A useful explanation of the history behind a bad idea.
Pascal Lottaz: Yes, ‘Not an Inch to the East’ Was Binding Under International Law
For anyone doubting that there ever were promises to the Soviets about NATO not expanding east, I recommend looking at this assessment of declassified documents from the US National Security Archives. There were many, many verbal commitments Michael Gorbachev got from various western leaders. It is established beyond the shadow of a doubt that these promises were made.
ACURA ViewPoint: Trump’s Moment of Decision
The past week has shown, if little else, that President Donald Trump is under immense pressure from Washington’s media and political establishment to pick up where the Biden administration left off and continue to provide Ukraine with a near-limitless supply of military and financial support in its war with neighboring Russia.
Such a policy would, among other things, require Trump to break his long standing campaign promise to end the war or, at a minimum, end our involvement in it. And, as consistency has rarely been noted among the President’s virtues, Trump announced last Monday he would be resuming weapons shipments to Ukraine.
That being said, the spectacle of the Beltway media braying for a prolonged fight with Russia—only weeks after helping to goad Trump into unnecessary and illegal acts of war on Iran—confirms the suspicion that for these professional instigators and spectators, when it comes to war, the appetite grows with the eating.
And so, last week a coordinated media blitz on behalf of Ukraine appears to have been launched in the direction of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. On Tuesday, the Washington Post published an unsigned editorial urging the President to “recommit to Ukraine’s cause.” The editorial noted that Trump was reacting to a Defense Department decision made the previous week to pause weapons transfers. The Post went on to note that:
During his first term, hawks routinely boxed Trump into positions he wasn’t comfortable with. He sidelined many of them. This time, the doves — who fancy themselves “restrainers” — have sought to manipulate the president to advance their isolationist agenda by overstating the limits of American power. Trump needs to bring them to heel.
Which ones exactly? The Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has by all accounts been sidelined. No, the culprit here, according to a Politico report published last Tuesday, is said to be Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby. Doing right by its sponsors, which include Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has always been one of Politico’s core strengths. Colby, according to the report, “has made a series of rapid-fire moves that have blindsided parts of the White House and frustrated several of America’s foreign allies.” The story quoted no fewer than 7 unnamed sources in the service of taking the one “restrainer” in the Defense Department down a peg. “He is pissing off just about everyone I know inside the administration,” a source told Politico.
Surprise, surprise: Politico and the Post are on the same page. Rid the administration of its one or two pesky “restrainers” and all will be well, Ukraine will be saved. One problem among many, as evinced by the cavalier attitude these outlets routinely take towards matters of war and peace, is that the war in Ukraine has been going on for so long (since April 2014), that the reporters and editorialists now covering it appear to have forgotten (or more likely never really knew in the first place) what the war is actually about (hint: Not Russian Imperialism). And so we are treated to grandiose pronouncements from the Post that,
The United States needs to stockpile more ammunition and boost capacity to produce it quickly, to ensure America can project power across the globe. But Ukraine needs munitions immediately to survive an ongoing Russian onslaught. Investing in Ukraine’s fight, drawing a large country into the West’s orbit and deterring future Russian aggression, is well worth substantial sacrifice of U.S. materiel — more than the United States is now providing; enough to improve Ukrainian performance on the battlefield. Trump is showing signs that he finally understands all this. He should make sure those who work for him do, too.
Questions as to the morality and efficacy of such power projection rarely if ever get asked by the Post and its Beltway brethren. In essence, the argument seems to be: We must do this because we’ve always done it. Will further arms shipments to Ukraine actually draw Ukraine (or what’s left of it) “into the West’s orbit”? Is this even desirable? (Here the Post might ask the Europeans for an honest estimation of when they plan to welcome Ukraine into the EU). And what “future Russian aggression” are they referring to? Moscow’s plans to thunder through the Fulda Gap? Another question that never gets asked: How does the matter of who governs the Donbas impinge on US national security? We will wait.
Facts are in short supply. The war of attrition being waged by Russia in Eastern Ukraine cannot and will not be won by the significantly smaller and poorer party to the conflict. Still more, the recent reconstruction conference in Italy failed to produce any significant funds for Ukraine, while last week the World Bank estimated that half-a-trillion dollars would be needed to rebuild the country.
Casualties from the war are by now well over 1 million. Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to stop the carnage. He, as usual, overestimated his own powers of persuasion, but he wasn’t wrong to think that the longer the war drags on, the more dangerous it becomes.
–David C. Speedie and James W. Carden serve on the Board of ACURA.
VIDEO: Rubio Debriefs Meeting With Russian Counterpart Sergey Lavrov
During a press briefing on Friday, Secretary Of State Marco Rubio spoke about Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov.
Geoffrey Roberts: A Review of Paul Robinson’s Russia’s World Order: How Civilizationism Explains the Conflict with the West
Paul Robinson’s concise and elegant book is a text of huge and compelling content, an invaluable guide to a significant and seemingly enduring development in Russia’s identity as an international actor.
Naked Capitalism: Centuries-Long History of Russophobia Opens the Doors to Cold War 2.0
A new policy of international relations adopted by Moscow after 2000 is based on a principle of a globe without hegemonic leadership – a policy which started to be implemented at the time when the global power of the US as a post Cold War 1.0 hegemon declines because it makes costly global commitments above ability to fulfill them followed by the immense US trade deficit – even today the cancer of American economy which the current US President desparately wants to heal. The US share of global gross production has been in the process of constant decline since the end of WWII.
Quincy Institute: Trump ‘told me it’s time to move’ on sanctions bill, so says Sen. Graham
Sen. Lindsey Graham’s long awaited Russia sanctions bill advances — now with President Trump’s support.
Ted Galen Carpenter: Could NATO Burden-Sharing Be a Subtle Snare for the United States?
Both Donald Trump and his legions of critics in Europe are celebrating the outcome of the latest NATO summit. The centerpiece of NATO’s renewed image of solidarity was an agreement among all Alliance members (except Spain) to boost their annual defense outlays to at least 5 percent of their yearly gross domestic product (GDP). Although NATO officials portrayed this commitment as a purely voluntary step, it appeased Trump’s long-standing demands for greater financial “burden-sharing” within the Alliance.
Report: Patriot missiles halted: Is U.S. ammo production breaking down
The Pentagon has halted shipments of critical air defense missiles and precision-guided munitions to Ukraine, citing concerns over dwindling U.S. stockpiles, a decision that has sent ripples through global defense circles. Announced on July 1, 2025, by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the pause affects vital weapons systems, including interceptors for Patriot air defense systems, precision artillery shells, and missiles for F-16 fighter jets, all of which have been central to Ukraine’s defense against escalating Russian attacks.
VIDEO: Nicolai Petro: Political Collapse Is Inevitable: NATO Can’t Save Ukraine
Dr. Nicolai Petro, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island and the author of the book “The Tragedy of Ukraine: What Classical Greek Tragedy Can Teach Us About Conflict Resolution” talks with Pascal Lottaz on the most recent developments in Ukraine.
SIPRI: Nuclear risks grow as new arms race looms
According to The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) nearly all of the nine nuclear-armed states—the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Israel—continued intensive nuclear modernization programmes in 2024, upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions.
NY Post: Obama’s Trump-Russia collusion report was corrupt from start: CIA review
A bombshell new CIA review of the Obama administration’s spy agencies’ assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help Donald Trump was deliberately corrupted by then-CIA Director John Brennan, FBI Director James Comey and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who were “excessively involved” in its drafting, and rushed its completion in a “chaotic,” “atypical” and “markedly unconventional” process that raised questions of a “potential political motive.”
Lord Robert Skidelsky: Could war in Ukraine have been avoided?
In arguing that Russia’s invasion was provoked, I am not saying that it was justified. There are different ways of responding to provocation. The provocation was real, but Russia’s response in 2022 was fatally flawed. It overestimated the ease and speed of overthrowing Zelensky, and underestimated the support Ukraine would get from the West. One of its many adverse consequences was to turn most Ukrainians into bitter enemies of Russia.
Happy 4th of July Week from ACURA
VIDEO: Nicolai N. Petro: The Tragedy of Ukraine and the Future of NATO
In this interview with Georgian Public Broadcaster analyst Nino Khelaia, Professor Nicolai Petro discusses the internal roots of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the exclusivist nature of nationalist projects, prospects for conflict resolution, and the future of NATO.