American Committee for US-Russia Accord

For almost a year the theme of “permitting” Ukraine to use the ATACMS and Storm Shadow/SCALP missiles for strikes into Russia’s interior has served as clickbait to offset Ukraine’s steady loss of ground.

To achieve peace, Western countries should consider supporting Ukraine’s transition to a neutral state. While this path may seem contentious, it presents the most viable solution to end the war and foster long-term regional stability.

About a quarter of a century ago around this very time, a newly elected Republican president who campaigned on a promise of a more humble, less arrogant foreign policy was assembling his foreign policy and national security team.  By the time he was finished, even the new president’s critics had to agree that the team he had assembled was an impressive one.  [Read more…] about What to Expect from Trump II: James W. Carden’s remarks at the Yerevan Dialogue on November 23

On this, the 61st anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, we present the film JFK: A President Betrayed, a 2013 documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman which shows how JFK embarked on secret back channel peace efforts with Nikita Khrushchev & Fidel Castro, as well as his determination to get out of Vietnam despite opposition inside the US government.

My current reading of what Russia has become is based on my own experiences as an historian of the Soviet Union who first went to that fascinating country in October 1964, followed by a year as an exchange student, 1965-1966. Entering the field of Russian and Soviet studies as a graduate student more than a half century ago and later as a young professor in the Cold War years, I thought of our generation, in those years of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement, as generally progressive and in relationship to the major adversary of the United States as basically détentists, that is, hoping for political and intellectual openings with the USSR and softening of the aggressive rhetoric and policies of both the East and the West. The 1960s and 1970s was a time when it was customary to speak of “going into” the USSR and “out of” the Soviet Union, as if into a prison, rather than simply “to” or “from” the Soviet Union. The dark images of what was called totalitarianism were still quite dominant in the profession and in the broader public. [Read more…] about Ronald Grigor Suny: Cold War Effects; Comments for the NYU Jordan Center Workshop

On November 17, the U.S. told the world what they had told Ukraine three days earlier: Ukraine had permission to fire American supplied long-range missiles deeper into Russian territory.

Not much needs to be said about the risks involved in the decision. They are the same risks that have caused the Biden administration to hesitate in green lighting the strikes for months.

In this clip Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the use of ATACMS by Ukraine against Russia is a signal that the US wants “escalation” in the conflict. “Without the Americans, it’s not possible to use them,” he said while speaking to reporters at the G-20 in Brazil.

After more than two years of grinding conflict, Ukrainians are increasingly weary of the war with Russia. In Gallup’s latest surveys of Ukraine, conducted in August and October 2024, an average of 52% of Ukrainians would like to see their country negotiate an end to the war as soon as possible. Nearly four in 10 Ukrainians (38%) believe their country should keep fighting until victory.

The notion that Trump was “soft” on Russia during his first term was (and remains) a destructive, highly politicized myth.  Over the past four years, though, Trump and at least some supporters in Congress, the news media, and the foreign policy community seem to have gained an understanding that Washington’s current Russia policy has been disastrous and requires drastic reforms.  It is less certain whether he will muster the courage to ignore the smears and make the necessary policy changes to begin repairing relations with Russia.

Joe Biden has lifted the ban on Ukraine using long-range missiles to fire into Russian territory by permitting them to be used against Russian and North Korean forces in the Kursk region.

The US president will allow Ukraine to use US-made Atacms rockets, which have a range of 190 miles (300km) – a decision being justified by the presence of North Korean troops fighting alongside Russia against Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone for an hour on Friday afternoon, a German government source said on Friday.

The FBI and the rest of the “foreign malign influence” industry have decided that the greatest moment of danger is the post-election period.

ACURA’s Benjamin Schwarz talks Trump’s national security appointments and what US foreign policy might look like under Trump II.

You still hear it every day in Washington: it is an article of faith repeated far more often and much more reverently than any liturgy or Mass in this indisputably post-Christian city. “We have an advantage that Russia and China cannot possibly hope to duplicate!”

Russia has abandoned all previous hopes of repairing relations with the West, or at least with the United States.

Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, and hawks and doves all realized that there were limits to American power. Then came the collapse of the Soviet Union, the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, and the humiliation of communists worldwide. Washington perceived an entirely new world, reflected by George H.W. Bush during the first Gulf War when he announced, “What we say goes.”

In the past decade, a disturbing phenomenon has arisen in the Western world. One might call it the “New Red Scare.” According to many, the West is the target of a highly sophisticated, professional, and dangerous campaign of foreign subversion, coming mainly from the Russian Federation. Accusations abound against “Russian agents,” “Kremlin influencers,” “Moscow proxies,” and the like. Don’t like someone, call them “pro-Russian;” dislike what they say, call it “Russian disinformation;” want to silence them, call them a “Russian agent.” And so on. Increasingly, reasoned debate is being replaced by silencing and name-calling.

Newspaper headlines and television pundits are screaming that Donald Trump’s election is a threat to “our democracy.” A strange charge following an election when a clear majority of voters chose the winner. Isn’t that consistent with the very definition of “democracy”?

The news from the Ukrainian front line is grim. Ukrainian forces are heavily outnumbered and outmatched in artillery and ammunition. There are growing signs of exhaustion, demoralization, desertion, and evasion of service by both the elites and ordinary people. Russian success is grounded in the fact that Russia simply has far greater resources than Ukraine in terms of both industry and manpower. It has been able to recruit hundreds of thousands of new troops by paying them very high wages, up to six times the average salaries in the regions from which they are drawn.