This is a personal, somewhat querulous book, whose jaundiced assessment of current politics will be lapped up by those who despise Boris, loathe Brexit, decry Trump, fear populism and find it impossible to come to terms with what is happening in the world
Analysis
Andranik Migranyan: Four Reasons Why Regime Change Won’t Occur In Belarus
There is no reason to believe that the Belarusian opposition will come to power any time soon. Instead, there are numerous differences between what is occurring in Belarus and what occurred in Ukraine in 2014 and in Armenia in 2018. Here are four reasons why.
Gregor Baszak: Away in a Manager: On Michael Lind’s “The New Class War”
Many on the left have been incapable of coming to terms with Hillary Clinton’s defeat. The result has been the stifling climate of a neo-McCarthyism…
Amb. Tony Brenton: We Should Talk to Moscow Over Belarus (Letter to the FT)
You call (“EU needs a tougher response to Belarus”, FT View, September 1) for the EU to be ready to intervene more vigorously on behalf of the Belarus democracy movement, including imposing sanctions if necessary on Belarus and Russia. [Read more…] about Amb. Tony Brenton: We Should Talk to Moscow Over Belarus (Letter to the FT)
Paul Robinson: Religion, Culture and the Russian Constitution
Discussions about amending the Russian constitution continue.
Steven Simon: Ending sanctions on Syria is meant to help the Syrian people, not Assad
State collapse, apart from signifying an awful humanitarian catastrophe, would open space in Syria for ISIL and encourage further encroachment of third countries who perceive an interest in bedding down in Syria.
David Rieff Reviews Samantha Power’s Memoir, The Education of an Idealist
From the beginning to the end of this self-aggrandizing book, what is most striking is how little Power’s views have changed from her early days as a freelance journalist in besieged Sarajevo in the early 1990s to her tenure as the United States’ permanent representative to the United Nations during most of President Barack Obama’s second term.
Aaron Bastani: A Review of Anne Applebaum’s ‘Twilight of Democracy’
The scale of neoliberalism’s breakdown is lost on an esteemed historian and journalist insulated from its worst impacts. This would certainly explain why Applebaum can only comprehend the present conjuncture as the result of mass irrationality and moral failure.
Ed Lozansky: Time to start full scale U.S.-Russia dialogue
The new U.S. ambassador in Moscow, John Sullivan, publicly stated that he got specific instructions from Mr. Trump to improve relations with Russia.
Tony Kevin: Why History Matters in Belarus
For centuries, the land on which the contemporary sovereign state of Belarus sits has been a fiercely contested borderland between Poland and Russia. It has changed hands many times over the centuries. It has seen bloody wars, forced annexations , forced population movements and racist pogroms. My study of relevant Wikipedia files, themselves fiercely contested as to content and missing citations, and other sources, demonstrates that emotions on all sides still run very raw on Belarusian history. [Read more…] about Tony Kevin: Why History Matters in Belarus
Dan Depetris: How impeachment damaged US foreign policy
Those who oppose the appropriation of hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. security assistance — a euphemistic term for lethal weaponry — to Kyiv are now being viewed skeptically. In contrast, others who support it are given carte-blanche to guide the debate.
Daniel Larison: Why are there still thousands of American troops in Syria?
Occupying Syrian territory indefinitely has nothing to do with defending the United States.
Daniel Larison: Don’t Ask Buttigieg About Foreign Policy
The Buttigieg campaign’s refusal to respond to new foreign policy questions is lazy at best.
Paul Robinson: Harassment
Media bias can be rather annoying. But on occasion, it can also be inadvertently amusing. Take the case of The Independent’s coverage of the recent clash between US and Russia in Syria…
Robert E. Hunter: Presidential Election Politics are Damaging U.S. Foreign Policy
It’s not just the White House that is doing serious damage to U.S. interests abroad during this year’s election campaign. Of even greater consequence (absent a new Middle East war) is the U.S. relationship with Russia.
Katrina vanden Heuvel: Trump hasn’t ended endless wars. Congress must use the War Powers Resolution.
How did we arrive at a situation where the two most heavily armed nuclear powers are facing off in rural Syria without congressional authorization?
Bonnie Kristian: Donald Trump’s Erratic Foreign Policy Is a Failure
The president talks a good talk about ending “endless wars,” to use a phrase from last year’s SOTU, but he has failed to extricate the United States from a single conflict. The incongruity is indefensible.
Nikolas K. Gvosdev: The Navalny Case Won’t Change Russia’s Relations With the West
Will there be much of a reaction at all?
Gordon Hahn: Another Look at Putin’s Proposed Constitutional Changes
The key question – besides the outcome of the 2021 Duma elections, now becomes what role Putin will have after 2024, assuming he does not leave the presidency before his term expires
Alan MacLeod: ‘Muscular’ Foreign Policy: Media Codeword for Violence Abroad
“Muscular,” along with similar words like “robust,” are commonly used in political reporting, especially with regards to foreign policy.