As far as I can see, Russia and the rest of the world are heading into a storm as dangerous as that of the first half of the 20th century and maybe even more so. But history – especially the history of the last three hundred years – is a very inadequate guide either to the challenges Russia faces or how to meet them. Survival seems likely to be the key issue.
Analysis
William H. Wiist: Nuclear Weapons: Still a Threat to Public Health, and Growing
Many health professionals understand that there are myriad and horrific immediate health consequences of the blast and thermal effects of nuclear bombs as well as predicted long-term effects such as “nuclear winter”.
Sharon Tennison and Krishen Mehta: End All Sanctions Now To Assist with the Fight Against Coronavirus
As we all know, the U.S. imposes some form of Sanctions against 39 different countries, including Russia, thus affecting over one-third of the world’s population. These Sanctions cause immense humanitarian suffering, are a violation of international law and are especially immoral at times like these when we are facing a global pandemic.
Paul Robinson: Forget the Swedes, Blame Russia
On Sunday, that most venerable of American newspapers, the NY Times, devoted no fewer than two full pages to an analysis of the recent success of the Swedish far right party, the Sweden Democrats.
Paul Grenier: U.S. Sanctions Must Stop
Sharon Tennison, director of the Center for Citizen Initiatives, has called for an end to the U.S. policy of sanctions, a policy now impacting 39 nations across the globe, because of the terrible consequences of those sanctions during a dreadful global pandemic.
Stanford/FSI: How nuclear war would affect the world climate and human health
There is no denying that nuclear war would have a huge impact on the environment.
Sarah Lazare: As Sanctions Kill Iranians Stricken With COVID-19, Democratic Leaders Are Silent
Amid growing calls to lift U.S. sanctions on Iran, which are worsening the country’s staggering coronavirus death toll by cutting off vital medical supplies, the top leadership of the Democratic Party is remaining conspicuously silent.
Fred Weir: In eastern Ukraine, a broad desire for peace. But whose peace?
The desire for peace isn’t enough to bring an end to war. Witness eastern Ukraine, where locals on both sides of the country’s east-west split want peace, but have conflicting views of what it will take to make it happen.
Boston Review: Sanctions Are Inhumane
In a world imperiled by global pandemic, it is long past time to put an end to sanctions—including new ones against Iran – and to reconstruct U.S. foreign policy around international solidarity.
The Hill: Mueller report fades from political conversation
Robert Mueller’s Russia report has largely faded from the airwaves less than a month after the former special counsel’s high-profile congressional testimony, a possible warning sign to Democrats that most voters have lost interest in the probe.
Newsweek: What one year of nuclear weapons spending could have bought us…
The amount of money spent in one year by the U.S. on nuclear weapons could instead provide 300,000 ICU (intensive care unit) beds, 35,000 ventilators and 75,000 doctors’ salaries, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
Jefferson Morley: Why the death of the national security state could be a silver lining of COVID-19
One thing we can be sure of is: change won’t come easily, even for a stricken nation.
Stephen Walt: There Once Was a President Who Hated War
American elites used to see war as a tragic necessity. Now they’re completely addicted to it.
David C. Speedie: Letter to the FT: Can we never credit Russia with altruistic motives?
To the Editor: The FT has been a beacon of sense and balance amid the often febrile Covid-19 reporting. In particular, you have called for a global, all-for-one, one-for-all international co-operation. It was therefore sad to read “Putin flexes soft power muscles with medical airlift to Italy” (March 24), in which Natalie Tocci, director of the Rome-based Institute for International Affairs, is quoted as saying: “Russia needs a quick win, so it wants to act fast. It does what Russia always does, which is seize low-hanging fruit.” So much, then, for not politicising the global threat. Or does that apply only when Russia is not involved?
James Carden: Progressives Should Endorse a ‘No First Use’ Nuclear Weapons Policy
Donald Trump and John Bolton are busy dismantling the global nuclear nonproliferation regime. Elizabeth Warren has the right response.
Lyle Goldstein: Naval Gazing as the World Economy Goes Up in Flames
As a Biden presidency becomes ever more likely, the world can perhaps expect the continuation and even acceleration of the “New Cold War” into the extended future. The announcement that Vladimir Putin could govern Russia through 2030 and beyond will only add fuel to that blaze. But should it? Does the world’s future need to turn on the fate of Donbass and Idlib? Do American foreign policy interests really hinge on new leadership in the Kremlin? If Russians are feeling insecure and want to retain their current leadership in the name of stability, then does that need negatively impact U.S. interests?
Edward Lozansky: Mr. President: Send Sam Nunn to Moscow
Nowadays it is hard for anyone much under the age of 50 to imagine, but once upon a time the threat of nuclear war and the prospect of planetary extinction were things people actually worried about.
Steven Pfifer: As US-Russian arms control faces expiration, sides face tough choices
The Trump administration’s proposal for trilateral arms control negotiations appears to be gaining little traction in Moscow and Beijing, and the era of traditional nuclear arms control may be coming to an end just as new challenges emerge.
Q&A: James Muller, MD, on Nuclear Weapons as a Health Threat
The devastating effects of nuclear war are not talked about because they are difficult to imagine. But you cannot prevent something you cannot imagine. Part of the medical work is to help people conceptualize the effect of a nuclear bomb on a city: millions killed and injured in an instant.
Lynn Rusten: On the danger of not renewing New START
Less than a year from now, the landmark New START Treaty is set to expire. The nuclear arms control agreement, signed by U.S. president Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev a decade ago, places a ceiling on the number of strategic nuclear missiles that can be deployed by both countries.