I have been to many countries where free speech is dangerous. But I have always assumed that there was no real risk here.
Analysis
Leonid Bershidsky: Putin Has a Chemical Weapons Problem
The use of a nerve agent against an ex-spy in the U.K. will haunt the Kremlin worse than previous transgressions.
Handle the Bear with care (Stephen Kinzer)
Escalating confrontation with Russia is not in America’s interest. It prevents US-Russian cooperation on urgent issues ranging from nuclear security to the fight against the Islamic State. It also pushes Russia toward China. Instead of challenging Russia in its own neighborhood, we should seek a global relationship that serves our security needs.
PODCAST: 101 Years Later, Armenian Genocide Remains Unacknowledged by Turkey (Pietro Shakarian)
Interview with Caucasus and Russia scholar Pietro A. Shakarian on The John Batchelor Show about the 1915 Armenian Genocide and the annual commemorations on April 24 at the Genocide Memorial in Yerevan, Armenia. Other issues discussed include Turkey’s denial, the Kurds, and Russia’s view of the situation. Shakarian and Batchelor are joined by former US Congressman Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), a member of the Congressional Armenian Caucus.
Russia vs. Japan: Asia’s Forgotten Island Fight (TNI)
Over the past few years, attention on territorial issues in Asia has largely centered on China, which has a raft of disputes with its neighbors, including Japan and many countries in Southeast Asia. A less discussed, but still strategic, rift is that between Japan and Russia over the Southern Kuril Islands…
Jeremy Corbyn: The Salisbury attack was appalling. But we must avoid a drift to conflict.
Britain needs to hold the perpetrators to account. Yet this is not a time for hasty judgments that could lead to a new cold war.
Are Poland’s Elites Itching for War with Russia? (Peter S Rieth)
“The Russian plane should have been fired upon. Not shot down, but fired upon. Too bad the Americans didn’t fire. Secretary Kerry should have announced that next time, the United States will fire on the Russians.” These are the words of Roman Kuźniar, a key foreign policy advisor to the former President of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski. [Read more…] about Are Poland’s Elites Itching for War with Russia? (Peter S Rieth)
Gordon M. Hahn: Putin’s ‘Missile Speech’: Butter, Guns, and Security Discourse
Putin’s speech addressed the external threat from the West by showcasing Russia’s ‘oboronka’ or defense industry, presenting a series of new weapons systems; some of which seem to already being deployed, some still in the testing and procurement phases.
Robert Legvold: Rex Tillerson is Fired. Whither US Foreign Policy?
On Tuesday, March 13, US President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and nominated CIA Director Mike Pompeo as his successor. Valdai Club expert Robert Legvold explains the reasons behind this decision and shares his view of its consequences for the US foreign policy.
George Beebe: Why We Need to Pay Attention to Russia’s Elections
The election will help Russia’s elites gauge how much power Putin really has.
Daniel Lazare: The National Endowment for (Meddling in) Democracy
The quasi-government group follows one rule: the U.S. has an unqualified right to do unto others what others may not do unto the U.S
Chatham House Rules (Paul Robinson)
The Royal Institute of International Affairs (aka Chatham House) published a report by Ukrainian analyst Orysia Lutsevych entitled ‘Agents of the Russian World: Proxy Groups in the Contested Neighbourhood’ which warns against the dangers posed by a “network of 60 Russian centres of Science and Culture’ around the world.” Robinson wryly notes, “I was at a meeting at one of these recently. I thought I was there to discuss academic exchanges…”
Lyle Goldstein: Why Trump Should Meet Kim in Vladivostok
The Russian Far East’s main city, Vladivostok, is just one hundred miles from the North Korean border.
Atomic energy and political power in Russia (OpenDemocracy)
In Russia, the space for environmental activism and advocacy is changing under increasing state pressure. An interview with one of Russia’s leading ecological organisations about the prospects for anti-nuclear activism today…
James Carden: Why Was a Call for US-Russia Strategic Dialogue Met With Silence?
Senators Merkley, Sanders, Feinstein and Markey are only asking for common-sense cooperation between the two nuclear superpowers.
Mikhail Gorbachev: The U.S. and Russia Must Stop the Race to Nuclear War
When I became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, I felt during my very first meetings with people that what worried them the most was the problem of war and peace. Do everything in order to prevent war, they said.
Pat Buchanan: Time to Get Over the Russophobia
Unless there is a late surge for Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, who is running second with 7 percent, Vladimir Putin will be re-elected president of Russia for another six years on March 18. Then we must decide whether to continue on course into a second Cold War, or engage Russia, as every president sought to do in Cold War I.
Proxy wars and provocations: relations between Russia and the US are chilling (The Independent)
…the candle of collaboration past still flickers, writes Rupert Cornwell. Every so often a so-called ‘Elbe Group,’ made up of retired senior US and Russian generals, convenes in a third country to discuss problems in the relationship. The group has no official standing, but is a precious backchannel that allows participants to understand each other’s point of view.
U.S. Still Fails to Understand Russia’s Security Needs (Rachelle Marshall)
With the Islamic State, Boko Haram, and other violent groups wreaking havoc in Africa and the Middle East, and war raging in Syria, Russia and the U.S. would do better to join in a common effort to stop the senseless violence and find a solution to its causes.
Catherine Brown: A Review of Loveless (нелюбящий)
…it is clear that the film’s reception in the West has been leveraged to support the current discourse of Russophobia (which has many causes, and in my opinion involves culpable bias). Consider the title of Emily Yoshida’s review of the film in Vulture.com, ‘Loveless Will Make You Happy You Don’t Live in Russia (Yet)’.