Vladimir Putin answered Russian journalists’ questions following his visit to China to take part in the BRICS Summit. [Read more…] about Vladimir Putin’s news conference following BRICS Summit (Johnson’s Russia List)
How Ukraine Is Forgetting Its Most Desperate Citizens
As victims of persecution and war, refugees are an extremely vulnerable population — but at least they fall under an internationally recognized protected category. What about those forcibly displaced people who do not fit under this legal definition? In Ukraine, where armed conflict between the military and pro-Russian separatists in the occupied east continues despite ceasefires, massive displacement is quickly leading to a major humanitarian crisis. What’s more, Ukraine’s displaced people have lost not only their homes but also many of their civil rights (including, most ominously, the right to vote). This is grim news for the country’s fragile democratic transition.
Hannah Gais: Who’s Afraid of the Russian Soul?
Today’s amateur Kremlinologists are keyboard ninjas with high-volume Twitter accounts and enough social media smarts to hijack the airwaves for their own puerile observations.
Senators back new financial support for Ukraine
Congress backs administration drive to send taxpayer money to fund the new Ukrainian oligarchy. According to a report in The Hill: “Two bipartisan senators are backing the administration’s decision to move forward with a third $1 billion in loan guarantees to the Ukrainian government. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) said that he was “pleased” with the administration’s decision, suggesting it could help bolster the U.S.-Ukrainian relationship.”
US News and World Report: Germany Welcomes Russia’s Call for UN Ukraine Peacekeepers
President Vladimir Putin says Russia will ask the U.N. Security Council to send peacekeepers to patrol the front line in eastern Ukraine.
REMINDER: ACEWA Event on Capitol Hill on Nov 4 at 2pm
The Crisis in US-Russia Relations, from Ukraine to Syria:
Is Congress Overlooking its Causes and Potential Solutions?
Hosted by Rep. John Conyers, Jr., Rep. Ted Yoho, Rep. Charles Rangel, Rep. Steve Cohen, Rep. Jim Himes, Rep. Rick Nolan, Rep. Alan Grayson, Rep. Peter Welch, and Rep. Barbara Lee
Wednesday, November 4, 2015, 2pm
Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2237
Free & Open to the Public | Light Refreshments will be served
Expert Panelists
· Jack F. Matlock, Jr., Ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987-1991 under President Ronald Reagan and President Bush· John Pepper, former Chairman and CEO of The Procter & Gamble Company, and former Chairman of Disney and of the Yale Corporation;· Ellen Mickiewicz, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Political Science at Duke University; and· Stephen F. Cohen, Professor Emeritus of Russian Studies, History, and Politics at New York University and Princeton UniversityThe Ukrainian crisis represents a low in U.S.-Russian relations not seen since the fall of the Soviet Union—and the recent Russian intervention in the Syrian Civil War is only making things worse. American and Russian jets flying bombing missions in close proximity to one another raises the possibility of a military accident between two nuclear-armed powers. As the New York Times warns, the complicated and shifting landscape of alliances leaves us “edging closer to an all-out proxy war between the United States and Russia.”
The majority of Americans never lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 or the darkest decades of the Cold War—they have led lives without the looming specter of nuclear war. But the areas of conflict between our nations are growing—the conflict in Ukraine, the expansion of NATO, Russia’s involvement in Syria, and other lesser issues are driving a new wedge between the U.S. and Russia.
While most would agree that conflict between the United States and Russia benefits no one, the likelihood of such conflict, as well as the serious consequences it could bring, is not being adequately discussed on Capitol Hill. In the interest of fostering more robust debate on U.S.-Russia relations, Rep. Conyers will convene an informal hearing featuring four eminent American experts on the subject. All four are members of the Board of the recently re-founded American Committee for East-West Accord (https://usrussiaaccord.com) a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization whose purpose is to promote public discussion and debate about the state of U.S. and Russian relations.
CNBC: Russia denounces US for ‘blatantly hostile’ closure of diplomatic posts
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the U.S. decision to seize three Russian diplomatic facilities as a “blatantly hostile act”, urging Washington to immediately reverse the call or “bear the total blame” for worsening diplomatic ties.
U.S. airstrikes decline in Syria after Russia moves in
The frequency of U.S. airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria has slowed significantly since the Russians began military operations in the region in early September, Defense Department data shows.
U.S. strikes averaged about seven per day in August, a pace similar to the entire first year of the air campaign in Syria that began last year, DoD data show.
The Mercury News: Gov. Brown headed to Russia for climate talks
California’s governor is traveling to Russia next week to discuss collaborating with Pacific nations on climate change at an economic forum hosted by the Russian government.
War and Peace — Revisited
Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar notes “Bashar al-Assad’s spectacular Moscow appearance – which enraged neocons/neoliberalcons to Kingdom Come – came complete with an ultra-high level dinner with Putin, Medvedev, Lavrov and Shoygu. It does not get more graphic than that; the order of priorities is to fight the “Caliphate” goons to death, and in parallel conduct a political process. Forget about regime change.”
Bloomberg View: Travel Barriers Are the Worst of the New Cold War
Why is the U.S. squandering its soft-power advantage on petty tit-for-tat?
Poland lurches to right with election of Law and Justice party
The Polish national elections which took place on October 25 are relevant to US-European-Russian relations because, with the ascent of the right-wing Law and Justice Party, the more moderate foreign policy espoused under Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz will likely be replaced by one which will likely take an ever hardliner line toward Russia than the policy pursued under the virulently Russo-phobic former foreign minister, the Civic Platform’s Radek Sikorski. For more, see The Guardian article below – Editor.
Asia Times: The US security establishment appears to be operating in score-settling mode
In case it has escaped your notice, the diplomatic tit-for-tat between Moscow and Washington has become deadly serious.
Ukrainians fear Russian bombs in Syria are bad news for them
The following may be of interest because it gives the view of the government in Kiev regarding recent events in Syria. Please keep in mind that when ACEWA posts an article under “News” or “Analysis” it is not necessarily endorsing its contents. In the following piece, reporter Matthew Schofield notes that, “In recent weeks, as Russian bombs and missiles have started landing in Homs, Hama and Aleppo in Syria, concern has grown among Ukrainians that one of the primary targets of the barrage actually is their country.”
From the Archives: Part II of Patrick Lawrence’s Interview with Stephen F. Cohen
In part two, Cohen completes his analysis of Vladimir Putin’s inheritance and explains how he came to focus his thinking on “lost alternatives”- outcomes that could have been but were not. Most surprising to me was the real but foregone prospect of reforming the Soviet system such that the suffering that ensued since its demise could have been averted.
The Russian military has been effective in Syria
Ever since the first indications that there were Russians encamped at the airfield in Latakia, theories have proliferated around Russia’s strategy in Syria, its intentions, and questions on how far they — and others — will go.
There are lots of things that these theories get wrong.
From the Archives: Patrick Lawrence In Conversation With Stephen F. Cohen (Salon)
There’s an alternative story of Russian relations we’re not hearing. Historian Stephen Cohen tells it here…
Exit polls in Ukraine local elections show east-west split
MARIUPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Four exit polls from Ukraine’s local elections released Monday indicated the governing coalition would retain its dominant position in the west and center of the country despite widespread disappointment with the government of President Petro Poroshenko.
The Central Election Committee said it had received data from only 30 percent of the vote by Monday morning, reflecting the challenge of calculating the results of elections for more than 10,700 local councils as well as mayors. More than 130 parties fielded candidates. Complete results were expected Nov. 4.
Who Won the Cold War? (Jordan Michael Smith)
The Cold War: A World History is told chronologically, but unlike most books on the subject, it begins with the right period.
BREAKING NEWS: Iraqi parliament approves Russian air strikes against ISIL
After weeks of political wrangling, the Iraqi parliament finally agreed to allow Russia to launch air strikes against the terrorist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq, paving the way for the involvement of a powerful new combatant in an already complex battleground in a move that will likely incense the US.