The Reconsidering Russia podcast is back. The fifth and latest installment features Caucasus analyst Sergey Markedonov. The discussion covers topics as diverse as the Don Cossacks, Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, Syria, NATO, Mikheil Saakashvili, Russo-Georgian relations, US-Russian relations, and Markedonov’s personal experience with the Caucasus region.
VIDEO: Russia’s Role in Ukraine (Bloomberg)
Much of the Western media has consistently portrayed Russia as the bad actor in the Ukraine conflict. Are there different ways to understand Russia’s motives? Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at Princeton University and New York University discusses Russia’s role with Bloomberg North’s Rudyard Griffiths.
Leading Putin Critic Warns of Xenophobic Conspiracy Theories Drowning U.S. Discourse and Helping Trump (Glenn Greenwald)
The Russia narrative dominates national discourse, as it has for months, and becomes progressively more removed from evidence.
Roundtable 9-12 on Return to Cold War (Robert Legvold and Others)
Since the United States, in Legvold’s view, holds a “vastly stronger hand” than Russia, it has less to lose from attempting to build sustained cooperation on what Legvold sees as the defining issues of global security today.
Damage Done: How Russia Hysteria Has Hurt U.S.-Russia Relations (Nikolas K. Gvosdev)
The Russia hysteria that is sweeping Washington, DC must end before severe and irreversible damage is done both to American domestic politics and U.S. international standing.
How US nuclear force modernization is undermining strategic stability (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
When viewed in the alarming context of deteriorating political relations between Russia and the West, and the threats and counter-threats that are now becoming the norm for both sides in this evolving standoff, it may well be that the danger of an accident leading to nuclear war is as high now as it was in periods of peak crisis during the Cold War.
Round Up the Usual Suspects, It’s Time for a Show Hearing (James Carden)
During the current crisis period in US-Russian relations (which began in roughly 2012), not a single outside voice or dissenter from the Washington foreign-policy community’s consensus view of Russia has appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
America’s Failure — and Russia and Iran’s Success — in Syria’s Civil War (John Judis and Joshua Landis)
Judis: Hillary Clinton’s argument was that if we had armed the so-called moderate rebels in 2012, as she and David Petraeus advocated, the results would have been different.
Landis: Syrian rebels were going to radicalize regardless of American largesse or arms.
Who Is Jon Huntsman? (Daniel R. DePetris)
Overall, Huntsman’s record suggests someone who is more of a political chameleon than a foreign-policy figure who is on Trump’s wavelength. Centrist? Realist? Neocon?
Contacts with the Russian Embassy (Ambassador Jack Matlock)
Our press seems to be in a feeding frenzy regarding contacts that President Trump’s supporters had with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and with other Russian diplomats.
The Dirty Secret Behind The Jeff Sessions Mess (Vanity Fair)
With most Russia-related stories these days, especially ones in The New York Times and The Washington Post, the best initial reaction is heavy skepticism.
The Basic Formula For Every Shocking Russia/Trump Revelation (Michael Tracey)
Trump/Putin theories are increasingly the top concern that plugged-in “Resistance” types bring up at the highly-charged town hall meetings that have received so much attention of late.
Ukraine Will Blacklist Websites That ‘Undermine Ukrainian Sovereignty’ (Isaac Webb)
Ukraine’s Ministry of Information Policy is preparing a list of websites that “undermine Ukrainian sovereignty” as part of an effort to uphold the country’s new information security doctrine, signed on February 25 by President Petro Poroshenko.
“Cut Him Open, Kill!”: Another Violent Far-Right Nationalist Act in Ukraine (Krytyka Polityczna)
Far-right nationalism in Ukraine continues to spur violence against foreigners and activists. Taras Bohay, an ecological activist who was violently attacked and sustained painful injuries, recounts his experience with his attackers and police.
Reawakening Old Feuds in the South Caucasus (Pietro Shakarian)
Pietro A. Shakarian, a PhD Candidate in Russian History at The Ohio State University, spoke to John Batchelor about the recent clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh. In their conversation, Shakarian and Batchelor discuss what lies behind the latest fighting in the region, Armenia’s relations with the EU and Russia, and much else besides. A must listen for anyone trying to understand the complex dynamics at play in the Caucasus.
NBC News: Ryan Says He’s Been Shown No Evidence On Russia’s Role In Campaign
House Speaker Paul Ryan says the intelligence community has presented no evidence that any Americans colluded or coordinated with Russian officials during the 2016 presidential campaign.
What’s Behind the Putin Fantasies (Wall St. Journal)
Several Trump campaign advisers had business ties to Russia, so that must be nefarious, right? [Read more…] about What’s Behind the Putin Fantasies (Wall St. Journal)
Michael Tracey of the Young Turks Interviews Prof. Stephen F. Cohen
TYT Politics reporter Michael Tracey, interviews Nation contributing editor and professor emeritus of Russian studies at Princeton University and New York University Stephen F. Cohen. Michael and Dr. Cohen discuss Donald Trump and Russia among other things.
The New Yorker’s Big Cover Story Reveals Five Uncomfortable Truths About U.S. and Russia (Glenn Greenwald)
A large bulk of the article is devoted to what has now become standard – and very profitable – fare among East Coast news magazines: feeding Democrats the often-xenophobic, hysterical Russia-phobia for which they have a seemingly insatiable craving.
Rubio moves to name street outside Russian embassy after slain opposition leader (The Hill)
The new Russia hysteria continues its hold on Congress: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced legislation on Monday to name street in front of the Russian embassy in Washington, D.C., after a slain Russian opposition leader.