Moscow has a way of signalling to the White House on critical issues from time to time through public statements calibrated to catch President Trump’s attention.
Lucy Komisar: At CFR Event, Tom Graham Is Mum on Der Spiegel’s Browder Expose
Former NSC official Tom Graham, now managing director at Kissinger Associates, spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations Dec 17th on prospects for stability in U.S.-Russian relations. He is on the “moderate” side of the current Russophobia, according to Lucy Komisar.
Ted Galen Carpenter: How the Media Mangled the ‘Russian Invasion’ of the Trump Administration
The willingness of the press to circulate any account that puts Russia in a bad light has not diminished with the collapse of the Russia-Trump collusion narrative.
EURONEWS: Five takeaways from Vladimir Putin’s four-hour news conference
Putin spoke on a variety of issues during his traditional end-of-year appearance.
Alan Macleod: On the ‘Russian Bounty’ Story
Based upon a bombshell New York Times report (6/26/20), virtually the entire media landscape has been engulfed in the allegations that Russia is paying Taliban fighters bounties to kill US soldiers.
Steve Horn: Democrats Invoke Russiagate to Advance Bill Lobbied for by Big Oil
Two bills that would allow the United States to expand its fossil fuel infrastructure in the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries have advanced to the the Senate—and Democrats backing them have invoked “Russiagate” to push them through.
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos: How ‘the blob’ profits as the nation’s interests take a back seat
Elite is as elite does.
John Kiriakou: Former CIA whistleblower on Brennan’s role in Russia probe
Did Obama’s CIA Director John Brennan lie to Congress? Former CIA officer John Kiriakou weighs in.
Dmitri Trenin: Russia–U.S.: No Reset, Just Guardrails
For Moscow, the global crisis provoked by the new coronavirus pandemic has provided a rare opportunity to try to reengage Washington.
NY Times: Durham Is Scrutinizing Ex-C.I.A. Director’s Role in Russian Interference Findings
The federal prosecutor investigating the origins of the Russia inquiry is examining testimony by the former C.I.A. director John Brennan and seeking his communications records.
Doug Bandow: Congress Plays Hardball To Keep American Troops Overseas
The U.S. should not prop up NATO allies who are unwilling to invest in their own defense.
Max Blumenthal: The insider: How national security mandarins groomed Pete Buttigieg
Pledging to “end endless wars,” Pete Buttigieg claims he has “never been part of the Washington establishment.” But years before he was known as Mayor Pete, an influential DC network of military interventionists placed him on an inside track to power.
Sophie Pinkham: Doing a Coup: The Many Lives of Catherine the Great
The Great makes Catherine’s rise to power into a naughty, frothy empowerment tale, albeit one with lots of dark humor. But history isn’t a rom-com, and an empress isn’t a girlboss.
Stephen F. Cohen: The Kremlin and Kiev watch the Impeachment
Professor Stephen F. Cohen continues his years long conversation with John Batchelor this week by taking a close look at the current impeachment drama underway in Washington.
PODCAST: System Update with Glenn Greenwald: How Congress Maintains Endless War
In this week’s episode of System Update, host Glenn Greenwald takes a thorough look at what happens in congress when the public isn’t looking, helping make sense of how the US keeps it’s endless war machine perpetually running.
Daniel Larison: War Denialism And Endless War
War has become so normalized over the last twenty years that the constant use of military force gets discounted as something other than “real war.
Fred Weir: For Russian experts, Taliban bounty report just doesn’t make sense
Even the Kremlin’s critics in the expert community now complain that U.S. intelligence about Russia has become completely detached from reality.
Reuters: U.S. Congress pressures Trump to renew Russia arms control pact
U.S. lawmakers of both parties are pressuring the White House to extend the last remaining restraints on U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons deployments by demanding intelligence assessments on the costs of allowing the New START treaty to lapse.
Rebecca Barber: The New U.S. “Caesar” Sanctions on Syria Are Illegal
The sanctions program represents an illegal exercise of U.S. jurisdiction abroad in the form of so-called “secondary sanctions.”
Reuters: China, Russia push for North Korea sanctions relief
A proposal by China and Russia to ease U.N. sanctions on North Korea increases pressure on the United States and signals what is the likely end of unified efforts to persuade Pyongyang to give up its growing nuclear and missile arsenal.