Victory by the “Russia scare” coalition will limit America’s ability to fight ISIL, complicate efforts to win UNSC support for tough enforcement of the Iran nuclear deal and give China more leverage over both Moscow and Washington.
Give Trump a chance with Putin to make a case for cooperation (NJ.com)
A poisonous fog of paranoia and hysteria clouds Russian-American relations even as presidents Trump and Putin have expressed interest in cooperation, especially against radical Islamic terrorism. It’s time to clear the air so the United States and Russia can focus on the clear-eyed pursuit of their mutual interests.
German Intel Clears Russia on Interference (Ray McGovern)
Mainstream U.S. media only wants stories of Russian perfidy, so when German intelligence cleared Moscow of suspected subversion of German democracy, the silence was deafening, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.
PODCAST: Kremlin-Baiting President Trump (Without Facts) Must Stop (Stephen F. Cohen)
Bipartisan allegations that Trump is a “puppet” of or “compromised” by the Kremlin have grown into latter-day McCarthyism with grave threats to America and the world.
Why Trump Is Right on Russia (Anatol Lieven)
A child with a map can look at where the strategic frontier between the West and Russia was in 1988 and where it is today, and work out which side has advanced in which direction.
Donald Trump loves Russia and Russia loves Donald Trump. Right? (Danielle Ryan)
The reporting on Russia’s reaction to (and alleged role in) Trump’s victory has been simplified and one-dimensional. It has sent otherwise intelligent people into a tailspin of conspiracy theories and, worse, a kind of new McCarthyism.
As Trump re-evaluates NATO, NATO must rethink Russia (Deutsche Welle)
“To think that our disputes will be solved by military posturing is a dangerous illusion,” said Ambassador Jack Matlock, who represented the US in Moscow between 1987 and 1991 and played a key role in reducing the tensions between the USSR and the West under President Ronald Reagan.
Senate Foreign Relations takes hard line on Russia (The Hill)
There was bipartisan agreement in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday that the legislative branch should take decisive action against Russia, even if that means circumventing the White House’s expressed desire for a better relationship between the two nations.
Trump, New START, and U.S.-Russian Relations (Daniel Larison)
In the case of New START, it was conventional hawkish boilerplate back in 2009-2010 that Russia benefited more from the treaty, but this wasn’t true. It represented the continuation of a mutually beneficial arms reduction process, and it ensured that reductions by both sides would be verified by inspections.
Trump Takes a Running Whack at the Liberal Interventionists (Patrick Lawrence)
It is excellent, excellent, that a president at last puts the question of American innocence—the answer to which must be self-evident—very publicly before us. We as a nation have flinched from this for decades and so landed ourselves in all kinds of disgrace before others. As to “moral superiority,” this is for the record: Americans have no claim whatsoever. Who can take the ensuing outrage seriously?
Test
Test post.
Trump’s frontal assault on America’s new McCarthyism (Gilbert Doctorow)
“Frozen conflicts” in our intellectual life are finally undergoing a welcome and necessary thaw if they are to find resolution.
Russia’s apparent meddling in U.S. election is not an act of war, cyber expert says (WaPo)
Russia’s hacks of the Democratic National Committee and its election meddling were alarming, but not an act of war, said a leading scholar of international law in cyber operations.
German intelligence finds no evidence of Russian meddling (Politico Europe)
German intelligence authorities found no concrete proof of disinformation campaigns targeting the government and have decided against publishing the 50-page report to avoid further straining relations with Moscow…
Book Review: Transcaucasia and the Tribes of the Caucasus (Paul Robinson)
Although I write a lot about current events, I am by training a historian, so it’s nice sometimes to take a break on this blog from contemporary problems and look instead at times past.
PODCAST: Ukraine Revisited (Stephen F. Cohen)
Nation Contributing Editor Stephen F. Cohen and John Batchelor continue their weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. With fighting having escalated between the US-backed Kiev government and Russian-backed rebels in Donbass, this week’s discussion focuses again on Ukraine’s role in the new Cold War since 2013–2014.
Another take on Putin, Trump and Ukraine (Richard Sakwa’s Letter to The Guardian)
In recent weeks, we have watched with increasing alarm as Ukrainian forces have pushed forward into the demilitarised demarcation line in a “bite and hold” strategy. This was admitted by the Ukrainian deputy defence minister, Igor Pavlovsky, when he stated that “step by step … our boys have been advancing”.
Kiev Is Fueling the War in Eastern Ukraine, Too (Foreign Policy)
Making Minsk work has always been easier said than done. Despite Trump’s election — and with it, the potential of reduced support from Washington — the Ukrainian public and political elite remain reluctant to make any kind of deal in eastern Ukraine.
Pushing Russia to Break with Iran Is Unlikely to Succeed (Daniel Larison)
The administration’s Iran obsession blinds them to the reality that Russia doesn’t see Iran as they do, which seems likely to set them up to fail if they make splitting Russia and Iran a condition for improved relations with Russia.
Flynn to recommend Trump back NATO membership for Montenegro (Politico)
National security adviser Michael Flynn will recommend that President Donald Trump support allowing the small Balkan nation of Montenegro to join NATO, POLITICO has learned — despite strong opposition from Russia.