Known as a bastion of neo-Nazism, the Azov Battalion has received teams of American military advisors and high powered US-made weapons
Putin vs. Erdogan: NATO Concerned over Possible Russia-Turkey Hostilities (Der Spiegel)
Officials at NATO headquarters in Brussels view the situation between Ankara and Moscow as being extremely volatile. “The armed forces of the two states are both active in fierce fighting on the Turkish-Syrian border, in some cases just a few kilometers from each other,” one NATO official says.
NY Magazine: Glenn Greenwald’s war on the Russia investigation
When it comes to what the investigation was designed to focus on, Greenwald says he’s still waiting for hard evidence that the Trump campaign aided Russian operatives in hacking the Clinton-campaign emails – or struck some other corrupt bargain.
Editorial – The Guardian’s view on the US and Russia in Syria: rivals who need each other
The Syrian war has lasted so long and diplomacy has proved so ineffective that the hope that it could end or at least be brought under some kind of control is hard to sustain. Yet the cessation of hostilities agreed by nearly all of the warring parties seemed to be holding this weekend.
Robert E. Hunter: Dealing With Hawaii’s False Alarm
Treating this event as a routine malfunction misses the broader implications, big time.
Syrian war: Russia and opposition allege truce breaches (BBC)
Anti-government rebels and Russia have both reported breaches of the fragile truce in Syria – now in its second day.
VIDEO: Paul Robinson: Do We Still Need NATO?
Paul Robinson, professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa and former officer in both the British and Canadian armies, examines the arguments for and against NATO’s continued existence, and challenges whether the organization continues to serve a useful purpose.
Update on Ukraine (David Speedie and Nicolai Petro)
ACEWA Board Member and Carnegie Council Senior Fellow David Speedie discusses the situation in Ukraine with Nicolai Petro, including the political crisis for the governing party in Kiev, the situation in Eastern Ukraine, and the state of the Minsk accords.
Richard Burt and Jon Wolfsthal: America and Russia May Find Themselves in a Nuclear Arms Race Once Again
Despite the Trump administration’s decision to treat it as an afterthought, arms control is not dead.
Orange Revolution Flashback for Tymoshenko as Ukraine Unravels (Bloomberg)
“It’s absolutely logical to compare what happened in 2005 with what is going on now,” Tymoshenko, 55, said Tuesday in an interview in Kiev, the capital. “The Ukrainian people crusaded against an alliance of politicians and oligarchic clans. And the people who came to power after each revolution were unable to counter the clan system and corruption.”
End Times for the Caliphate? (Patrick Cockburn)
A new loose alliance between the US and Russia, though interrupted by bouts of Cold War-style rivalry, produced an agreement in Munich on 12 February for aid to be delivered to besieged Syrian towns and cities and a ‘cessation of hostilities’ to be followed by a more formal ceasefire. A de-escalation of the crisis will be difficult to orchestrate, but the fact that the US and Russia are co-chairing a taskforce overseeing it shows the extent to which they are displacing local and regional powers as the decision-makers in Syria.
William Perry: The Terrifying Lessons of Hawaii’s Botched Missile Alert
We survived multiple Cold War close calls through a combination of good management and, to a troubling degree, plain good luck. We can’t always count on that good luck.
Syrian Army Recaptures Town in Aleppo Province From IS Group (ABC News)
Syrian government troops backed by Russian airstrikes recaptured a town in Aleppo province from Islamic State militants on Thursday in a key advance just two days ahead of a U.S. and Russia-engineered cease-fire that is set to take effect in Syria.
The New Cold War in 2018: A Discussion With Professor Stephen F. Cohen
In a podcast with the TF Metals Report, Professor Cohen notes that “I’ve been working in print and broadcast about the onset of a new Cold War since late 1990s because I saw the Clinton administration’s intrusive policies and then Yeltsin’s Russia as generating a backlash that would lead the two countries to a replication or continuation of the 45-year cold war…”
What the New York Times won’t tell you about the American adventure in Ukraine (Patrick L. Smith)
All of a sudden, straight out of nowhere, Ukraine creeps back into the news. There is renewed fighting in the rebellious eastern regions. There is political warfare in Kiev. There is paralysis in the upper reaches. There is some new formation called the Revolutionary Right Forces occupying the Maidan—the very same Independence Square where, two years ago this past Sunday, months of protests tipped into violence and an elected president was ousted.
Coilin O’Connor and Andy Heil: Astonishment At Ukraine Ban On Best-Selling ‘Stalingrad’
British historian and best-selling author Antony Beevor says he is dumbfounded at a decision by Ukrainian authorities to ban the import of a Russian translation of his award-winning account of a major tipping point in World War II and that he expects an apology.
Russian Strategic Culture 2.0 (Paul Robinson)
It was something of a surprise when Russian president Vladimir Putin agreed with US president Barack Obama to a ceasefire which will come into effect in a few days’ time. After all, when you are winning, it makes sense to keep on going, rather than stop.
Yet this fits with a pattern of Russian behaviour.
Paul Saunders and Kristin Lord: Time to Rekindle People-to-People Relations
At the height of the Cold War, U.S. and Soviet leaders embraced people-to-people contacts to facilitate the exchange of people and ideas—we need to do the same once again.
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine
The SMM observed a total of 794 ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, considerably higher than on previous days.Of note, positioned in city-centre Donetsk between 16:00 and 07:00hrs on 21/22 February, the SMM recorded 312 undetermined explosions 7-10km to the west and north-west.
Stephen F. Cohen: Democrats Are Repudiating FDR’s Precedent of Detente With Russia
Hegel liked to say, “The Owl of Minerva spreads its wings only with the falling of dusk” – that wisdom comes too late. A Hegel-like historical irony may also be unfolding.