A truly progressive foreign policy must put questions of war and peace front and center. Addressing America’s post 9/11 failures, military overextension, grotesquely bloated defense budget, and the ingrained militarism of our political-media establishment are the proper concerns of a progressive U.S. foreign policy. But it is one that would place the welfare of our own citizens above all.
David McKean and Jason Bruder: Why the U.S. Needs a Strong Diplomatic Corps
Today, the level of international goodwill toward the United States and its credibility as an effective global power is at a low ebb.
Patrick Lawrence: After Exceptionalism
In a superb essay [PDF download in link] to see out the year, journalist and author Patrick Lawrence dissects the myth of American Exceptionalism. Lawrence observes that “the intellectual confinements exceptionalist beliefs impose have debilitated us for decades. We are now greatly in need of genuinely new thinking in any number of political and social spheres, even as we deny ourselves permission to do any.” The question remains: from where will this new thinking come? Happy New Year from ACEWA.
VIDEO: Kim Iverson: On the Russia Bounties Story
Kim Iverson tackles the New York Times’ controversial story on the Russia-Taliban connection.
Stephen F. Cohen: How impeachment battle is impacting US-Russia relations
Princeton and NYU Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies Stephen F. Cohen tells Larry King how Donald Trump’s impeachment battle is viewed in Russia, and how it’s impacting U.S.-Russia relations.
David S. Foglesong: With Fear and Favor: The Russophobia of ‘The New York Times’
Disregarding all past experience, journalists, politicians, and foreign policy experts have simply assumed that the claims of Russian bounties for killing American troops are true. They—and we—should know better.
Washington Post: Rachel Maddow rooted for the Steele dossier to be true. Then it fell apart.
Name a host on cable news who has dug more deeply into Trump-Russia than MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Asked to comment on how she approached the dossier, Maddow declined to provide an on-the-record response.
Matthew Petti: The Race To Take Over the House Foreign Affairs Committee Is Heating Up
Current committee chair Rep. Eliot Engel (D–N.Y.) will lose his seat in 2021, as local middle school principal Jamaal Bowman knocked Engel off the Democratic in a primary election upset last month.
Daniel Larison: The ‘Blob’ Embraces Buttigieg
More than 200 foreign policy and national security professionals, including dozens of veterans of the Obama administration, on Monday are endorsing Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg for president.
National Interest Discussion: Did Putin Get the Origins of World War II Right?
Several experts examine and assess the validity of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s depiction of the diplomacy in the 1930s leading up to the second world war.
Happy Holidays from ACEWA
We will return Monday, Dec 30.
Marlene Laurelle: Making Sense of Russia’s Illiberalism
Russia’s support for illiberal movements in Europe has received wide attention. Yet this promotion of illiberalism should not be seen as merely a cynical political ploy by the Putin regime.
Jim Antle: A Hawkish Impeachment
Even as Representative Adam Schiff led the drive to impeach Trump, the California Democrat voted for a defense bill that lavishes the executive branch with money without restraining presidential war powers.
Gerald Sussman: The Russiagate Spectacle: Season 2?
If it’s an election year, there must be a Russiagate story.
Aaron Mate: Newsweek reporter quits after editors block coverage of OPCW Syria scandal
Newsweek reporter quits after editors block coverage of OPCW Syria scandal.
MK Bhadrakumar: Putin had a dream to reset the world order
Moscow has a way of signalling to the White House on critical issues from time to time through public statements calibrated to catch President Trump’s attention.
Lucy Komisar: At CFR Event, Tom Graham Is Mum on Der Spiegel’s Browder Expose
Former NSC official Tom Graham, now managing director at Kissinger Associates, spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations Dec 17th on prospects for stability in U.S.-Russian relations. He is on the “moderate” side of the current Russophobia, according to Lucy Komisar.
Ted Galen Carpenter: How the Media Mangled the ‘Russian Invasion’ of the Trump Administration
The willingness of the press to circulate any account that puts Russia in a bad light has not diminished with the collapse of the Russia-Trump collusion narrative.
EURONEWS: Five takeaways from Vladimir Putin’s four-hour news conference
Putin spoke on a variety of issues during his traditional end-of-year appearance.
Alan Macleod: On the ‘Russian Bounty’ Story
Based upon a bombshell New York Times report (6/26/20), virtually the entire media landscape has been engulfed in the allegations that Russia is paying Taliban fighters bounties to kill US soldiers.