Merry warns that Russians are referring to the political climate in the US as “schizophrenic.” Carlson observes that what Jared Kushner is accused of doing, in attempting to set up a ‘back-channel’ with the Russians, is perfectly legal, while Merry notes that every new US administration contacts foreign governments before taking office.
Analysis
Jared Kushner was right to seek private channels with Russia (Mary Dejevsky)
Trump critics are treating the latest revelation as further evidence of Russian collusion, but given the constant stream of leaks coming from the intelligence agencies, it may have been the best option to improve relations with the Kremlin.
The Trump-Russia Story Starts Making Sense (Holman W Jenkins)
The Kremlin seems to have bet big on the willingness of U.S. intelligence agencies to leak.
Canadian journalist writes from Ukraine praising extreme-right paramilitaries
One of Canada’s well known journalists was in Ukraine last month on reporting duty. Readers of mainstream media in Canada will be surprised to read Diane Francis’ observations of her visit. She has penned several articles in the World Post praising the extreme-right and neo-Nazi paramilitary forces that are allied with the Ukrainian government in waging civil war in the east of the country.
The Russian economy on the eve of the Macron-Putin summit (Jacques Sapir)
The stakes are high for both men, even if they are not at the same level for both. It is fitting at this point to examine the present situation of Russia and of the Russian economy. Russia is emerging from the 2015-2016 recession. Yet, the circumstances of this emergence remain blurry.
Fighting the Politicized, Evidence-Free ‘Collusion with Russia’ Narrative (NR)
The ‘Russian collusion’ scandal is manufactured — but like all good subterfuge, it is premised on a kernel of truth.
Putin’s Asia-Eurasia Pivot: ‘Isolation’ from the West Spurs Eurasian Integration and Russian Globalization
Western hopes of sufficiently alienating Russia in order to break the Kremlin’s will on Ukraine and/or bring down Russian President Vladimir Putin have failed. Over the last year, Moscow has achieved a series of foreign policy successes on both multilateral and bilateral levels outside of the West. What has been called Russia’s ‘Asia pivot’ is much grander.
Is NATO Getting Too Big to Succeed? (Charles Kupchan)
…publicly declaring the prospective closing of NATO’s open door would resign Georgia, Ukraine and the other states located between NATO’s eastern frontier and Russia to a strategic gray zone. But the prospect of NATO membership only fuels false hopes and encourages Russian intervention to forestall their westward course.
A Special Prosecutor for Criminal Leaks (Patrick Buchanan)
President Trump has the authority to declassify security secrets. And in sharing that intel with the Russians, who have had airliners taken down by bombs, he was trying to restore a relationship. On fighting Islamist terror, we and the Russians agree.
Amb. Jack Matlock: The End and the Beginning
Jack Matlock, the last US ambassador to the USSR presented a talk entitled “The End and the Beginning” at a conference entitled END OF TRANSITION: Armenia 25 Years On which was organized by the USC Institute of Armenian Studies in Yerevan, on May 23-24.
Reaching the endgame in Ukraine
Over the last several weeks, the 15-month-old Ukraine crisis took fresh steps toward resolution in a series of teleconference calls by the Normandy Four — the heads of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine.
Beginning July 10, French President François Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko and Ukrainian parliament chairman Volodymyr Hroisman to comply with all the terms of the February 2015 Minsk 2 agreement.
New Cracks in Russia-gate ‘Assessment’ (Bob Parry)
President Obama’s ex-intelligence chiefs admit they limited input into the Russia-gate “assessment,” which was handled by “hand-picked” analysts, raising the specter of politicized intelligence, Robert Parry reports.
On The Testimony of John Brennan (Washington Times)
Too bad Obama couldn’t have nipped the Russian interference in the bud during his presidency. Then maybe the whole Russian-Trump collusion charge the left is so desperately trying to make true wouldn’t play so prominently in the press these days.
Is the U.S. less corrupt than Russia?
At the highest levels, the U.S. and European Union believe that corruption in Russia is so extensive that after the invasion of Crimea and Ukraine, they directed many sanctions toward Russia’s elite. Western powers went after super rich “oligarchs” and wealthy “friends of Vladimir,” hoping to punish financially Mr. Putin’s inner circle and pressure it into changing his calculus about Russia’s aggression….
Thomas Friedman Asks: Why Fight ISIS? (NY Times)
Occasionally we highlight particularly outrageous articles in order to draw attention to the uphill battle the Committee faces in the current political/media environment. Thomas Friedman, NY Times columnist, frequent guest on Charlie Rose and the Sunday morning shows asks: “Why should our goal right now be to defeat the Islamic State in Syria?”After all, says Tom, “ISIS right now is the biggest threat to Iran, Hezbollah, Russia and pro-Shiite Iranian militias…”
FOREIGN MEDDLING IN ELECTIONS UNCOVERED (Paul Robinson)
A group called Canada Decides have submitted a 36-page complaint to Elections Canada alleging foreign influence in the 2015 vote.
Russia or ISIS? Who is America’s No. 1 Enemy?
Who poses the biggest threat to America? For the last few weeks, the nation’s top security chiefs were pressed to answer that existential security question.
And as luck would have it, the experts don’t seem to fully agree on the identity of America’s No. 1 enemy. But they’ve laid out some interesting options…
How Did Russiagate Start? (Matt Taibbi)
The uncertainty has led to widespread public terror, mass media hysteria and excess, and possibly even panic in the White House itself, where, who knows, Trump may even have risked military confrontation with Russia in an effort to shake the collusion accusations.
Ronald Reagan 1984 State of the Union Address (Excerpt on USSR)
In Reagan’s 1984 State of the Union Address, he devoted several paragraphs to the people of the Soviet Union where he famously said, “there is only one sane policy, for your country and mine, to preserve our civilization in this modern age: A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. The only value in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to make sure they will never be used. But then would it not be better to do away with them entirely?”
How Kosovo Poisoned America’s Relationship with Russia (Ted Galen Carpenter)
The Kosovo intervention set terrible precedents that have come back to haunt the West.