The mayor of Hiroshima calls for a global security paradigm based on dialogue, mutual understanding, and cooperation, instead of doomsday threats.
Belarusian Nobel Laureate Alexievich Cancels Event In Ukraine Amid Threats
Alexievich’s name was added to a list of “enemies of Ukraine” by the Ukrainian nationalist website Myrotvorets…
The explanations behind Russian and US airstrikes in Syria are a lesson in propaganda (Patrick Cockburn)
Airstrikes that hit the wrong target have always been justified or denied by the perpetrators with a rich blend of hypocrisy and lies. It was interesting to see this tradition of deliberate mendacity being not only maintained, but outdone in Syria over the last week.
Eugene Rumer: Here we go again with Russia sanctions that will do nothing.
American foreign policy toward Russia is stuck in a seemingly endless pattern of doing the same thing over and over again with an unsatisfactory result, but expecting a different outcome each time.
EU parliament backs visa-free travel for Ukraine, hurdles remain (Reuters)
Ukrainians’ hopes of securing visa-free travel to the European Union received a boost on Monday when a key committee of the European Parliament backed their cause, but further hurdles remain.
The Manafort Trial: RussiaGate Without Russia?
From VICE news: Gates detailed how Manafort planned to help Ukraine enter the EU, through his project, “Engage Ukraine.” “Engage Ukraine became the strategy for helping Ukraine enter the European Union,” he told prosecutors Tuesday…
Dealing With Russia: Advice To The Next President (Ambassador Jack Matlock)
What does the next president need to do about US-Russian Relations? Former US Ambassador to the USSR Jack Matlock says the first thing is to understand why, in many respects, our current policy is not serving the national interest. It is not as defective and dangerous as it was when President Obama took office, but it is still, in many respects, on the wrong track. [Read more…] about Dealing With Russia: Advice To The Next President (Ambassador Jack Matlock)
Reuters: Russia reels, denounces new U.S. sanctions as illegal, unfriendly
In the latest broadside, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday it would impose fresh sanctions by the month’s end after determining that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, in Britain, something Moscow denies.
The west looks on as corruption and bigotry rule in the ‘new Ukraine’ (The Guardian)
Two years ago, the west looked at Ukraine with enthusiasm. These days, the sentiments are closer to despair and fatigue. My country has not had the European breakthrough that was promised. Those who came to power in Kiev to the applause of western elites now hope that their international partners will turn a blind eye to the way they run the country.
Politico: Leaked document: Putin lobbied Trump on arms control
Vladimir Putin presented President Donald Trump with a series of requests during their private meeting in Helsinki last month, including new talks on controlling nuclear arms and prohibiting weapons in space, according to a Russian document obtained by POLITICO.
Sleepwalking into a big war (Michael T. Klare)
When speaking of Russia’s moves in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, western analysts highlight what they view as the illegal nature of the Russian intervention. But their real concern is over evidence that Russian investment in enhanced military capabilities over the past decade is beginning to bear fruit.
David Cortright: New sanctions on Russia and Iran are unlikely to work. Here’s why
Sanctions are much in demand these days as a tool of American foreign policy.
Don’t Try to Imitate the Russians in Syria (Paul Pillar)
The Washington Post’s deputy editorial page editor Jackson Diehl says President Obama ought to emulate Vladimir Putin in Syria. Yet nothing in Diehl’s column considers exactly where U.S. interests do and do not lie in Syria. They do not lie with any particular political coloration of a future regime in Damascus. They do not rest on overthrowing the Assads; somehow U.S. interests have survived even though the Assads, father and son, have been in power for 46 years.
Politico: After Rand Paul meeting, Russian lawmakers agree to Washington visit
Sen. Rand Paul, who has supported President Donald Trump’s effort to improve relations with Russia, announced Monday that Russian lawmakers have agreed to visit the U.S. Capitol.
Is Putin Really a Fascist? (Paul Robinson)
In 1990 the New York Times admitted that Walter Duranty’s reporting was some of the worst it had ever printed. Given what the newspaper is publishing nowadays, Duranty is facing some stiff competition.
Hannah Rosenthal: The New York Times Whitewashes Ukrainian Neo-Nazis
The most unfortunate thing about the New York Times Ukraine article is how it exposes the lax standards with which Western media has treated the disturbing reality in the country.
Who Is Making American Foreign Policy—the President or the War Party? (Stephen F. Cohen)
Nation Contributing Editor Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. (Previous installments are at TheNation.com.) The main focus of Tuesday night’s conversation is Syria, the crisis in Ukraine, and Russia’s parliamentary elections.
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Dawn of a new Armageddon
The world has entered an unimaginably deadly new arms race, with no rules of the road and no scheduled arms control talks for these new weapons systems. In three years, New START, the US-Russia agreement that limits nuclear arsenals, is set to lapse, removing the last agreed restraint on arsenal sizes.
Jimmy Carter: A First Step for Syria? Stop the Killing
If this cease-fire is to last, the United States and Russia must find ways to work beyond the lack of trust that undermined the previous cease-fire in February.
Vladimir Goldstein: Hidden in Plain View in Belgrade
Why did NATO attack Yugoslavia in 1999, killing perhaps as many as 2,500 civilians? Here are some possible answers as Vladimir Golstein reflects back on that ugly episode.