The relentless pursuit of this narrative above all else has had dangerous consequences.
PODCAST: Trump v. Disastrous US Triumphalism in Foreign Policy (Stephen F. Cohen)
Nation Contributing Editor Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussions of the new US–American Cold War. (Previous installments are at TheNation.com.) Whatever else one may think about Donald Trump as a presidential candidate, Cohen argues, his foreign policy views expressed, however elliptically, in a Washington Post interview this week should be welcomed, especially in light of terrorist attacks on Brussels, for their challenge to the bipartisan neocon/liberal principles and practices that have guided Washington policymaking since the 1990s—with disastrous results.
That policymaking has included the premise that the United States is the sole, indispensable superpower with a right to intervene wherever it so decides by military means and regime changes, and by using NATO (“coalitions of the wiling”) as its own United Nations and rule-maker. In recent years, from Iraq and Libya to Ukraine and Syria, the results have been international instability, wars (both proxy and civil), growing terrorism, failed “nation building,” mounting refugee crises, and a new Cold War with Russia.
Trump proposes instead diplomacy (“deals”) toward forming partnerships, including with Russia; rethinking the rightful mission of NATO; Europe taking political and financial responsibility for its own crises, as in Ukraine; and a smaller American military footprint in the world. In effect, a less missionary and militarized American national security policy. Cohen suggests that Trump may be calling on an older Republican foreign policy tradition. And that he is emerging as a realist in two respects: in reality, the world is no longer unipolar, pivoting around Washington; and the United States must share and balance power with other great powers, from Europe to Russia and China.
The orthodox bipartisan establishment, Republicans and Democrats alike, have reacted to Trump’s proposals, Cohen says, as though he is the foreign policy anti-Christ, readying all-out assaults on his remarks. It is possible that this existential confrontation might lead, if the mainstream media does its job, to the public debate over US foreign policy that has been missing for twenty years, and certainly during the 2016 presidential campaigns
VIDEO: When Are Journalists Foreign Agents? Hosted by Columbia Journalism School.
Columbia Journalism School and the Harriman Institute hosted a panel discussion with journalism experts on the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which featured Chris Hedges, host of RT America’s ‘On Contact’; Maria Snegovaya, Columbia University; Trevor Timm, Freedom of the Press Foundation; Jeffrey Trimble, U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors. Moderated by Steve Coll, Dean, Columbia Journalism School.
VIDEO: Nukes and the New Cold War (Stephen F. Cohen)
Radio and television host Thom Hartmann talks with ACEWA Founding Board Member Professor Stephen F. Cohen about the heightened nuclear risk in light of the crisis in relations between the US and Russia, and how Secretary of State John Kerry is trying to work with Russia in trying to resolve the crises in both Syria and Ukraine.
Paul Robinson: Review of ‘The Long Hangover’
Shaun Walker, the Moscow correspondent on The Guardian, has a new book out, entitled The Long Hangover: Putin’s New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past. It advances the thesis that … and this is where I run into a problem…
Russia, Europe’s Scapegoat for All Seasons (Matthew Dal Santo)
Unlike the US and EU, Russia does not seek to remake the world in its image. That doesn’t stop the EU from blaming Russia for its own problems, writes Matthew Dal Santo.
Fred Weir: Russia’s media scene: not just a state affair
Despite Western preconceptions of a Soviet-like puppet media, the Russian news landscape is quite diverse, with outlets public and private, big and small. But government influence remains a critical concern.
Russian Hybrid Warfare and Other Dark Arts (Michael Kofman)
The Kennan Institute’s Michael Kofman writes, “Frederick the Great said centuries ago that “he who defends everything defends nothing.” We spend too much time chasing hybrid ghosts, confusing ourselves, and diffusing lines of effort.”
Jeffrey Edmonds: How America Could Accidentally Push Russia into a Nuclear War
America runs the risk of misunderstanding the context within which the Russian government would use its nuclear weapons.
Ukraine Rebel Not Optimistic About Peace Time Frame (US News and World Report)
A rebel representative at peace talks for eastern Ukraine said on Friday a truce deal between the Ukrainian government and separatists could take years to be implemented.
Stephen F. Cohen: Far From Hurting Putin, US ‘Oligarch’ List Could Help
The Trump administration has admitted a new report about Russian oligarchs is based on a Forbes list. Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus at New York University and Princeton University, says the report could ultimately help Putin force wealthy Russians to bring their overseas money back home. Cohen also discusses Russia’s upcoming election.
Asymmetry in Syria and the Russian Drawdown (Paul Pillar)
The latest Russian move should not have been at all surprising. To the extent that it was, this is because of imputing to the Russians motives and thought processes that they do not exhibit, and neither do most other people. The announced withdrawal shows that Russian objectives in Syria were never unlimited or grandiose.
Lyle J. Goldstein: The Absurdity of the New ‘Great Game’ in Central Asia
Geopolitics are not a good rationale for continuing the U.S. war in Afghanistan.
There Is No Military Solution for Syria (Barbara Crossette)
Only close cooperation between the United States and Russia can end the “terrible tragedy” in Syria, says Lakhdar Brahimi, the highly respected international mediator in the Middle East for more than two decades.
Reuters: YouTube found no evidence of Russian interference in Brexit referendum
YouTube found no evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum, a senior executive told a British parliamentary committee inquiry into fake news.
Remarks by President Donald Tusk after his meeting with President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko (EU)
On March 17 the EU’s Donald Tusk just met with Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko. At a joint press conference Tusk finished by saying: “I am cautiously optimistic, but frankly speaking more cautious than optimistic.”
Stephen F. Cohen: Russiagate or Intelgate?
Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian Studies and Politics at NYU and Princeton, and John Batchelor continue their (usually) weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. The publication of the Republican House Committee memo and reports of other documents increasingly suggest not only a “Russiagate” without Russia but also something darker: The “collusion” may not have been in the White House or the Kremlin.
Don’t isolate Russia in this climate of Cold War rhetoric – we must all work together (Mikhail Gorbachev)
If a global poll were taken today asking people whether the world is going in the right direction, the answer, I think, would be a resounding No. Five years after popular movements emerged throughout the Arab world, memories of the Arab Spring have a bitter taste. In Syria, war has raged for half a decade and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, scattering refugees across Europe.
Sharon Tennison: Another Assessment of Putin
Since Vladimir Putin became president of Russia in 2000, there has been a steady barrage of negative press and hostility from the West. With Putin up for reelection this year, Sharon Tennison tries to separate fact from fiction.
Don’t Fear the Russians (Anatol Lieven)
If you believe many of the commentators and policy makers in Washington, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is an expansionist on the march…
This alarmism is counterproductive and largely wrong.