American Committee for US-Russia Accord

Woodward misquoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on page 88 of your new book, and significantly altered the meaning of his statement.

Our thousands of nuclear warheads prepare us for a victory that is perfectly and hopelessly absurd. Not only do we risk unspeakable horror by the intentional use of these weapons, but we run the same risk in possessing them, because of the possibility that they may be exploded by error or accident.

The Ukraine War has dragged on for nearly three years with no current end in sight. The United States’ pledge to Ukraine’s defense has grown increasingly costly and unpopular, and talks on both sides of escalation — and even the potential use of nuclear weapons, on the part of Russia — threaten to expand and inflate the conflict. Ukraine has defended itself admirably, but the time is now to set out a plan for negotiations and de-escalation.

Fyodor Lukyanov is regarded today as one of Russia’s top international relations experts. He describes himself as a product of the ‚huge changes‘ that took place in Russian society over the course of his lifetime. Not least of these was the arrival of Gorbachev and Perestroika in the 1980s, and the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union when he was 24 years old – both of which had a profound impact on his thinking and led him into a career of scholarly journalism. In 2002 – and inspired, he says, by the American journal Foreign Affairs – he was invited by foreign policy expert Sergei Karaganov to help launch what has become one of the country’s most influential foreign policy journals, Russia in Global Affairs, where he still serves as Editor-in-Chief. He is also Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club – a group of scholars from around the world that meets every year in Russia to discuss global issues – and teaches a course on International Relations at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.

Congratulations are in order for Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations. The Nobel Peace Prize has for the first time in at least six years gone to a group of people who work to reduce warmaking, people who in fact seek to abolish nuclear weapons. Nihon Hidankyo has relentlessly done the work of educating the world, thanklessly, for many years. This prize should be celebrated far and wide.

Last week we experienced some unforeseen technical issues which we have now addressed. We expect to be back to our usual morning schedule starting today.

Thanks,

ACURA

Blinken’s claims of U.S. success in rallying “the international community” against Russia over the war in Ukraine and in orchestrating successful sanctions are only possible because he completely ignores the actual behavior and views of India, South Africa, Brazil and the large majority of countries around the world that have refused to join in sanctions and have called for an early peace — a call that has been repeatedly snubbed by Washington.

Ukraine, allied states, and many American politicians continue to press the Biden administration to allow Kiev to use anything for any purpose against Russia. And American officials piously dismiss Vladimir Putin’s claim that approving use of U.S. missiles for use against Russia would place the two nations at war.

Nevertheless, cooler heads may yet prevail.

Russia, Ukraine and the 1918 Armistice Analogy…

A river runs through Russian and, more recently, Ukrainian history. Ironically enough, the Dnieper River that unites Russia and Ukraine in this and other ways – the river rises in the Valdai Hills of Smolensk, Russia and runs through Belarus and Ukraine – is now the focus of the greatest schism in the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations. Russian forces appear impossible to stop and will arrive at the Dnieper at some point along its snaking length no later than next year, with Russian troops perhaps controlling the river’s and the country’s Left Bank by then. Russia – as well as the West and whatever remains of Ukraine‘s Maidan regime will then face some serious decisions.

Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited Ukraine on Thursday, just two days after replacing Jens Stoltenberg as the head of NATO, demonstrating the alliance’s commitment to the proxy war.

Decisions made by successive administrations beginning in 2002, when the Bush administration unilaterally tore up the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, have served only to make us less safe. The Trump administration added to the danger when it withdrew from the Open Skies and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaties. The withdrawal from the INF, on the basis of what are still unexplained violations of the treaty relating to Russia’s development of the SSC-8 (9M729) cruise missile, was particularly egregious. After all, according to the non-partisan Arms Control Association, after the Trump administration pulled the plug on the INF, Russia “indicated it would be willing to halt deployment of the 9M729.” Needless to say, the administration did not take them up on the offer.

When it comes to protecting the safety and wellbeing of actual American citizens, the most important branch of the U.S. armed forces is not the Air Force, or the Marines, or even the nuclear deterrent. It is the Army Corps of Engineers. It might almost be said that it is the only really valuable branch of the U.S. Army in this regard, unless one is seriously worried about an armed invasion from Mexico or Canada.

In his classic work Diplomat’s Dictionary, Ambassador Chas Freeman sets out a collection of definitions of the diplomatic craft and terminology; part Talleyrand, and part Ambrose Bierce. First published in 1994, this remains the most acute, the wittiest and the pithiest of all introductions to the practice of diplomacy. In an era when it sometimes seems that the US and Europe possess not diplomats but anti-diplomats, its lessons are more important than ever. To discuss the book and its lessons, Ambassador Freeman was joined by Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia program at the Quincy Institute.

In its Friday editorial, Global Times took the opportunity to examine NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s farewell speech of the day before, “What has NATO’s ‘expansion’ vaunted by secretary general brought?” One million Ukrainian deaths, many more millions displaced, and the nation ruined on behalf of NATO policy weren’t any of the facts Stoltenberg mentioned. Nor did he claim credit for the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline despite that clear fact it was a NATO operation to make war on itself. Global Times looked deeper and made a very sensible suggestion in its conclusion:

During his swearing-in ceremony as the new Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte declared his top priorities were strengthening the alliance and bringing Ukraine closer to the bloc.

Today, the Russians are in the process of surrounding and capturing the town of Vuhledar (Ugledar), which is the linchpin of the Ukrainian defence in the southern part of Donetsk province. What remains of the town’s garrison is faced with the grim choice of fighting its way out, staying and dying, or surrendering. The town’s capture now seems inevitable and will be a major victory for the Russian army.

This episode of Pascal Lottaz’s ‘Neutrality Studies’  features former US Ambassador to the USSR, Jack Matlock who talks frankly about the politics of the post-Soviet region. It is absolutely clear that for all powers in the neighborhood, a workable relationship with Russia is essential. Ambassador Matlock discusses the reasons for the instability, the domestic and international factors, and gives invaluable advice on how to do conflict resolution instead of conflict escalation.