President Trump’s decision to launch an air strike on the Al Shayrat airfield in Syria confirms what had been only too obvious in recent weeks, that Trump, far from representing a clean break with the regnant foreign policy orthodoxy of endless military intervention in the Greater Middle East, has instead become captive to it.
NATO: Risk of return to heavy fighting in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t done using his military in eastern Ukraine, the top U.S. military commander for NATO said Thursday as the U.S. and its allies outlined additional support for Kiev, including aid in defusing roadside bomb
Where Was CIA’s Pompeo on Syria? (Robert Parry)
As President Trump was launching his missile strike against Syria, CIA Director Pompeo and other intelligence officials weren’t at the table, suggesting their doubts about Bashar al-Assad’s guilt, reports Robert Parry.
NATO to triple size of reaction force
NATO announced late Wednesday it will triple the capacity of its Response Force to 40,000 troops…In light of Russia’s involvement in eastern Ukraine and Moscow’s recent decision to upgrade its military, including its nuclear arsenal, NATO is “carefully assessing the implications of what Russia is doing, including its nuclear activities…”
The Pentagon has developed plans for “Saturation Strike” Against Syria (The Intercept)
According to both U.S. military officials, the current proposal would likely result in Russian military deaths and mark a drastic escalation of U.S. force in Syria. One U.S. military official said the decision to allow the strikes, which would kill Russians, signals a significant change in policy by the Trump administration.
Nato to review nuclear weapon policy as attitude to Russia hardens
Nato, in an echo of the cold war, is preparing to re-evaluate its nuclear weapons strategy in response to growing tension with Russia over Ukraine, sources at the organisation have said.
Updating Nato’s nuclear policy would amount to an escalation in tit-for-tat exchanges with Russia since the Ukraine crisis erupted last year.
Obsession With the Russia Connection Is a High-Risk Anti-Trump Strategy (Greg Grandin)
It lets Democrats off the hook for their own failures—and betting the resistance on finding a smoking gun is a fool’s game.
FLASHBACK: 1997. Open Letter to President Clinton on NATO expansion
NATO Defense Ministers begin their 2 day meeting in Brussels today, Wednesday, June 24. To mark the occasion we are publishing the following open letter, sent to President Bill Clinton in 1997, that warned against the policy of NATO expansion. The signatories informed the President that they “believe that the current U.S.-led effort to expand NATO…is a policy error of historic proportions.” The letter was signed by, among others, ACEWA Founding Board Members Sen. Bill Bradley and Amb. Jack Matlock.
Merkel, Trump talk over concerns over Afghanistan, Ukraine (ABC News)
Angela Merkel’s spokesman says the German chancellor has talked with U.S. President Donald Trump, exchanging thoughts on the current situation in Afghanistan and in eastern Ukraine.
FLASHBACK: 1998. George F. Kennan’s warning on NATO expansion
NATO Defense Ministers are meeting in Brussels on June 24-25. To mark the occasion we are publishing George F. Kennan’s May 1998 interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. In it, Kennan foresaw the perils of NATO expansion, telling Friedman “I think it is the beginning of a new cold war…I think it is a tragic mistake.”
US Troops Deployed To Ukraine, Without Debate (Stars and Stripes)
For three years, U.S. Army Europe has been leading an effort to bolster the capability of Ukraine’s armed forces. The effort, initially focused on developing the country’s national guard, has been expanded to include the training of regular active-duty forces.
NATO retools for a long-haul standoff with Russia
From top-level decisions like how NATO orders its troops into action to the very granular, like repainting an airfield near the Baltic Sea coast, the U.S.-led alliance is retooling for what it fears could be years of confrontation with a resurgent and unpredictable Russia.
Terrorism in America? They hate us for our freedom! Terrorism in Russia? They had it coming! (Danielle Ryan)
Mere hours after the blast, commentators were referring to the attack as “blowback” for Russia’s foreign policy. This is not a word you hear frequently in the aftermath of terror attacks on European and American cities — despite decades of Western military intervention in the Middle East, with much of it engendering intense resentment among Arabs and Muslims.
Extended EU-Russia sanctions create risky new status quo
Moscow is preparing to prolong retaliatory measures against the EU, after the bloc extended for six months economic sanctions against Russia, raising the prospect of a frozen conflict in Ukraine that analysts say will damage both sides.
Following the expected June 22 extension decision by the EU foreign ministers…Moscow ministries were instructed to draw up proposals for renewing counter-measures for submission to President Vladimir Putin.
On the Poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko (Katrina vanden Heuvel)
The “poetician, not politician” always seemed conscious of the Russian adage that a great writer is more than a writer—he is a second government.
U.S. Sending Armored Combat Brigade to Europe Amid Russia Tension
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter confirmed Tuesday that the U.S. will deploy one armored combat brigade to Europe, bolstering joint training exercises with NATO partners in an effort to deter Russian aggression in eastern Europe. Carter said the armored brigade will include tanks, artillery and armored vehicles.
PODCAST: The Death of Russia’s Great Poet-Dissenter and the Lack of His Civic Courage in the US Establishment (Stephen F. Cohen)
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, who died last week, challenged Soviet authorities for decades while Americans at far less risk remain silent in the face of Cold War hysteria. Prof. Stephen F. Cohen wonders why established American figures — in the media, Congress, universities, cultural life, and elsewhere — have not protested the Soviet-style abuses now engulfing US politics in a wave of McCarthy-like hysteria. They have far less to lose than did Yevtushenko.
EU extends sanctions against Russia as Ukraine conflict rumbles on
The European Union has extended economic sanctions against Russia until January to keep pressure on Moscow over the conflict in eastern Ukraine, drawing a rebuke and a warning of retaliation from Russian officials. An EU statement released on Monday said the decision was taken without debate by the bloc’s foreign ministers at a meeting in Luxembourg, in response to “Russia’s destabilising role in eastern Ukraine”.
Reconsidering Russia Podcast #6: Pietro Shakarian Interviews Fred Weir
In this podcast, Fred Weir, Moscow Correspondent at The Christian Science Monitor, and Pietro Shakarian discuss Russian politics and society, US-Russian relations, the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Nagorno-Karabakh, Ukraine, the American Rust Belt, and Weir’s experiences covering Russia as a journalist, living on an Israeli kibbutz, and working as a journeyman ironworker.
Stephen F. Cohen: Lecture at Fairfield University on US-Russian Relations
In February, ACEWA Founding Board Member and NYU and Princeton Professor Emeritus Stephen F. Cohen gave a lecture on the crisis in Ukraine and the state of US-Russian relations and the very real possibility of a new and even more dangerous Cold War between the two nations. Coming as it did in the days leading up to Minsk II it makes for relevant viewing today.