In the rancorous aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, Russia is often depicted as the greatest national-security threat facing the United States. The intense heat generated by the current scandals, however, is blinding us to the fact that cooperation with Russia on nuclear issues is still very much in America’s interests.
Confronting Russia Holds Peril for U.S.
It could have been President Obama issuing a firm warning — measured, devoid of bellicose threats — to President Vladimir V. Putin that the West would keep the pressure on as long as Russia interfered with Ukraine’s sovereignty. Instead, it was Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and a leading 2016 Republican presidential aspirant, speaking at a news conference in Berlin on Wednesday.
Ukrainian war hero and lawmaker slurs Jews (JTA)
A Ukrainian lawmaker and war hero used a word usually translated as “kikes” in complaining that Jews wield excessive power in her country.
Sanctions new normal proves workable for business in Russia
When executives from hundreds of Russian and foreign companies came together in St Petersburg a year ago for the International Economic Forum, most participants were in a state of shock. The US and Europe had just slapped visa bans and asset freezes on a number of Russian officials and companies over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, and threatened much broader sanctions. One question dominated every conversation: How bad were things going to get?
Ukraine amends disclosure law to include NGOs (FT)
Ukraine will require anti-corruption groups to make the same asset disclosures as politicians and public servants, a step that NGOs say attacks their work and distracts from their attempts to bring more transparency.
IMF Managing Director Issues Statement on Ukraine
In the statement below, released June 12, Ms. Christine Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announces IMF policy on Ukraine: “Ukraine’s debt repayment capacity is limited by its fiscal capacity. Since Ukraine lacks the resources under the program to fully service its debts…in the event that a negotiated settlement with private creditors is not reached and the country determines that it cannot service its debt, the Fund can lend to Ukraine.”
Dick Cheney: Russian Election Interference Possibly ‘Act of War’ (NBC)
Cheney channels MSNBC and scores of liberal politicians and op-ed writers in calling Russia’s alleged interference an “act of war.”
Bill Bradley: 5 Steps for Peace in Ukraine
As the West pursues renewed negotiations with Russia over the Ukraine crisis, these negotiations should not be expected to produce simply a series of Russian concessions. To this suggestion hard-liners in the West will inevitably characterize such thinking as “appeasement.” But compromise is not the same thing as appeasement, especially considering that Putin appears more a tactical opportunist than a strategic warmonger. Providing Russia a sense of territorial security by promising not to expand NATO to Ukraine or Georgia will eliminate the major excuse for expansionist aggression that Putin offers to his people.
Democrats step up calls that Russian hack was ACT OF WAR (The Hill)
The hysteria continues to grow: “This past election, our country was attacked. We were attacked by Russia,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.). “I actually think that their engagement was an act of war, an act of hybrid warfare, and I think that’s why the American people should be concerned about it,” said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.). “I think this attack that we’ve experienced is a form of war…” said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.).
Does Russia Have a Future?
The break-up of the Soviet Union smashes the mold of conceptualization of empire. It is the only case I can think of where the nation supposedly running the show was among the first to abandon ship and opt for sovereignty….
Don’t Fight Their Lies With Lies of Your Own (Masha Gessen)
This past Monday, Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, opened a hearing on Russian interference in the election with a speech that seamlessly mixed verified information with rumor and exaggeration
UKRAINE SITUATION: UNHCR OPERATIONAL UPDATE, 22 May – 8 June 2015
As of 3 June there were 1,325,200 IDPs [Internally Displaced People] registered by the Ministry of Social Policy, representing an increase of 41,500 since 21 May. This increase in the number of registrations reflects the deteriorating situation in the conflict area.
Whereas previously there were reports of limited numbers of people returning their homes in non-government controlled areas to maintain property or take care of relatives who remained behind, lately there have been no such reports.
Boris Johnson postpones Moscow visit to attend Nato meeting (FT)
Boris Johnson has postponed a conciliatory trip to Moscow in order to attend a rearranged meeting with Nato foreign ministers on Friday.
BREAKING: U.S. Poised to Put Heavy Weaponry in East Europe – NY TIMES
In a significant move to deter possible Russian aggression in Europe, the Pentagon is poised to store battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for as many as 5,000 American troops in several Baltic and Eastern European countries, American and allied officials say.
The proposal, if approved, would represent the first time since the end of the Cold War that the United States has stationed heavy military equipment in the newer NATO member nations in Eastern Europe that had once been part of the Soviet sphere of influence
Arrests and Accountability (Paul Robinson)
As might be expected, the arrest of about 900 protestors in Moscow on Sunday is being used to paint the Russian authorities as particularly authoritarian. This accusation is missing the point. Mass arrests of protestors aren’t a uniquely Russian phenomenon
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine as of 11 June 2015
The level of violence in and around Donetsk airport (“Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”)-controlled, 12km north-west of Donetsk) remained high. From the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) observation point at the Donetsk central railway station (“DPR”-controlled, 8km north-west of Donetsk city centre), over a five hour period, the SMM heard over 250 bursts of small arms and light weapons fire, heavy machinegun, automatic grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns as well as 134 explosions, both incoming and outgoing at one to eight kilometres north, north-west, north-east and west of its location.
CNN’s Special Report On Putin Uses Media Echo Chamber To Attack Trump (Paul Saunders)
Ultimately, the program’s treatment of Clinton and Trump (and Bush, for that matter), makes it difficult to escape the conclusion that Zakaria himself is the source of the superficiality and bias in “The Most Powerful Man in the World.”
Ukraine’s Neo-Nazis Won’t Get U.S. Money
The House of Representatives has unanimously approved an amendment to the U.S. military budget, proposed by Conyers and Florida Republican Ted Yoho, banning support and training for “the Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary militia ‘Azov Battalion.'” Azov was set up in May 2014 to fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine
US-Russian Cyber Wars and the Future of International Security (Gordon Hahn)
It increasingly appears that we have an unraveling of the hasty view put forward by the waning Washington consensus in media, academia and pre-Trump government circles regarding the exceptionalism of Russian cyber warfare…
Federalism in Ukraine: How It Would Best Work
Though written in April 2014, this analysis by Pietro Shakarian remains relevant:
Several commentators and analysts have recently proposed the idea of a federal Ukrainian state as a means of balancing power between the more Ukrainophone West and Russophone Southeast. Such an idea could potentially work, but only if implemented on an oblast-by-oblast level, not on a broad regional level. The reason for this is that each individual oblast within Ukraine has its own unique nuances and circumstances which must be seriously considered.