Former Procter & Gamble CEO and ACEWA Board Member John Pepper shares his thoughts on Ambassador Michael McFaul’s new memoir, From Cold War to Hot Peace. [Read more…] about John Pepper: Reflections on Michael McFaul’s New Memoir
Analysis
The rush to blame Russia for the DNC email hack is premature (The Guardian)
Since WikiLeaks published the DNC’s hacked emails on Sunday, there has been a flurry of accusations – including from the Hillary Clinton campaign – that Russian president Vladimir Putin orchestrated both the hack and the leak, in an attempt to help Donald Trump win the presidency.
Paul Pillar: On Trump’s Proposal to Bring Back the G8
Trump’s proposal to readmit Russia to the G-7, making the group once again a G-8, may have been as little thought out as many of his other moves; reportedly, officials of the National Security Council were taken by surprise. But the proposal has validity for the same reason it made sense to admit Russia in the 1990s
VIDEO: Glenn Greenwald on the DNC/Russia “Hack” Story on CNN
From CNN: He won a major journalism prize for reporting on a massive leak of American intelligence. Now, Glenn Greenwald speaks to us about what. could be behind the Democratic Party being hack.
Robert Merry: Enough: The DOJ Must Show Its Cards to the American Public
The country is heading for a constitutional crisis, and only clarity can resolve the two competing Russia narratives tearing us apart.
The Hawks’ Election Strategy: Pushing a New Cold War (David Bromwich)
Yale’s David Bromwich writes that “to picture Trump as an agent or enabler of Vladimir Putin—and to insinuate that anyone who seeks diplomatic arrangements with Moscow in preference to a new Cold War must be “soft”—does nothing to elevate the political discourse of the moment. It takes us out of the sewer and leads us into the cesspool.”
Paul Robinson: Russian Soft Power
This week I had the opportunity to attend the first International Forum for the Development of Parliamentarism in Moscow.
How US Propaganda Fuels New Cold War (David Swanson)
The anti-Russian propaganda across the U.S. political-media system is so pervasive that even members of Congress know little about the events that launched a new Cold War, as Elizabeth Murray learned and David Swanson reported.
Gordon Hahn: Snyder’s Distortions of Ilyin
Timothy Snyder has put out an incoherent video interpretation of Ivan Ilyin, of whom Snyder claims Putin is an admirer, offering no evidence.
With DNC Leaks, Former ‘Conspiracy Theory’ Is Now True––and No Big Deal (Adam Johnson)
FAIR’s Adam Johnson observes, “The DNC leaks as Russian spy operation was the preferred talking point of the day, omitting or glossing over what the leaks actually entailed. The actual culpability of Russia for those leaks, it’s worth noting, is still unproven..”
Pepe Escobar: How Singapore, Astana and St Petersburg preview a new world order
Key economic forums in cities across Eurasia point the way to new power structures rising to challenge Western dominance.
Kris Osborn: The Army Has a New Plan to Fight a War Against Russia
The Army’s new “Vision” for future war calls for a fast-moving emphasis on long-range precision fire to include missiles, hypersonic weapons and extended-range artillery — to counter Russian threats on the European continent, service officials explain.
The Central Claim in Josh Marshall’s Blog Post About Russia and Trump is False (Michael Tracey)
Michael Tracey tackles a central claim in Josh Marshall’s widely-circulated blog post, detailing Trump’s alleged ties to nefarious Russians.
Jeff Groom: 40 Years Ago Today: When Solzhenitsyn Schooled Harvard
The famed, exiled author of the “Gulag Archipelago” took the West to task for, of all things, too much liberty.
Daniel L Davis: Trump Shouldn’t Accept Georgia into NATO
It should be a concern to every American that foreign-policy leaders openly advocate extending NATO membership to volatile nations on Russia’s border.
Reuters: Anonymous US Officials Continue to Undermine Kerry Diplomatic Efforts
This report from Reuters features a number of US officials speaking ‘on background’ in order to undermine Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to come up with an agreement with Russia with regards to Syria. This, along with the leaked State Department “dissent” cable, shows how deeply embedded the opposition to any rapprochement with Russia is within the ranks of the Obama administration. – Editor
We Must Learn To Ask Forgiveness (Paul Robinson)
On Thursday, Nadia Savchenko shocked many by suggesting that Ukrainians needed to ask forgiveness from the people of Donbass…I very much doubt that anyone in power in Ukraine will act upon Savchenko’s words. But the fact that somebody is saying them is most welcome.
Fred Weir: Russia woos a Europe feuding with US over tariffs, Iran
he United States is making life hard for Europe, both directly through new tariffs and indirectly by withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal. And that is giving Russia an opening to reset its relationship with its neighbors.
Anti-Trump Hysteria on NATO (Paul Saunders)
Donald Trump’s formal nomination as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate appears to have induced mass hysteria among neoconservative Republicans and their liberal-interventionist allies in the Democratic Party.
Amb. Tony Brenton: Russia And The West: On The Brink
Sanctions have so far had absolutely no effect on Russian policy with regard to either Ukraine or Syria (or indeed anything else).