Reuters: NATO to hold biggest drills since Cold War with 90,000 troops
ACURA’s Nicolai N. Petro and Ted Snider: To End the War in Ukraine, Expose Its Core Lie
The essential argument used to avoid negotiation and continue support for the war in Ukraine is based on a falsehood. That falsehood, repeated by President Joe Biden, is that when Vladimir Putin decided to invade, he intended to conquer all of Ukraine and “annihilate” it.
Its falsity has been exposed multiple times by military experts, who have pointed out, both before and after the invasion, that Russia could not have intended to conquer all of Ukraine because it did not invade with sufficient forces to do so. Indeed, this was a key reason why senior Ukrainian officials, and even President Volodymyr Zelensky himself, argued just days before the invasion that it would not occur.
Richard Sakwa: The lost peace and the missing piece
Was a positive peace possible after the end of the Cold War in 1989? The Cold War had been characterized by a negative peace in Europe, the management of conflict rather than its resolution, whereas a positive peace is based on the cooperative resolution of common problems, including those facing humanity as a whole.
This is the question that has intrigued and puzzled observers in recent years, and with added force after the return to interstate war in Europe and the reimposition of an Iron Curtain across the continent. Why did all the promises of friendship, ‘strategic partnership’ and the like in the euphoria of those days between 1989 and 1991 end not just in failure but in a catastrophic reversion to a cold war, which in certain respects is far deeper and more intractable than the original version?
Bartholomew H. Sparrow: Ukraine War: What Would Brent Scowcroft Do?
Scowcroft practiced and believed in what he called “enlightened realism.” In other words, the United States is best served by promoting a stable international system and protecting Americans’ own blood and treasure. He accepted foreign governments as they were, thereby facilitating a predictable international system, and worked with other nations to create a safer, more prosperous world. So there was good reason why President George H.W. Bush and Scowcroft—Bush’s most trusted adviser—did not want to “dance on the Wall” after the collapse of East Germany in 1898. Disrespecting and humiliating Moscow could have incited disastrous consequences in central Europe and among the (former) Soviet republics.
Seymour Hersh: The Political Costs of Biden’s Wars
As another showdown with Trump looms, Biden’s record abroad is his biggest liability.
ACURA’s James W. Carden: Anthony Blinken Has Failed The Test
Nowhere has Blinken’s lack of interest in diplomacy been more evident than with regard to Russia and Ukraine. In the months leading up to Russia’s February 2022 invasion, Blinken pursued toward Russia twin policies of provocation and intransigence that virtually guaranteed a Russian military response.
Ted Galen Carpenter: The Foreign Policy Blob’s Desperate Attempt To Preserve NATO
There are multiple indications that members of the foreign policy establishment are increasingly worried that the American people are growing weary of Washington’s strategic overextension and the excessive costs in treasure and blood that role imposes. Elites show their nervousness through desperate attempts to preserve the policy status quo. One recent example was the effort in Congress to limit the president’s powers and options regarding NATO.
Gordon Hahn: Crisis of the Regime: Pre-Coup, Pre-Revolutionary Conditions in Ukraine
Kiev is now gripped by crisis politics.
Owen Matthews: Why accepting the partition of Ukraine may be necessary
Even if a reconquest of Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donbas and Crimea were militarily possible, would their re-incorporation into Ukraine make the country safer and more stable — or the contrary?
AP: The US failed to track more than $1 billion in military gear given Ukraine
Shortfalls in required monitoring by American officials mean the U.S. cannot track more than $1 billion in weapons and military equipment provided to Ukraine to fight invading Russian forces, according to a Pentagon audit released Thursday.
The findings mean that 59% of $1.7 billion in defense gear that the U.S. has provided Ukraine and was directed to guard against misuse or theft remained “delinquent,” the report by the Defense Department’s office of the inspector-general, the watchdog body for the Pentagon, said.
Julia Gledhill: How Biden can bypass Congress on Ukraine aid
US weapons makers are teaming up with Kyiv to produce military gear in the war-torn country, likely, in part, at the taxpayer’s expense
VIDEO: John Mearsheimer: Who Is the US Enemy: Russia or China?
In a recent interview with Judge Napolitano, Professor Mearsheimer discusses US policy toward Russia and China.
ACURA ViewPoint: James W. Carden: Neocons Blame America First
The blame game has commenced; America’s Ukraine hawks have met the enemy, and it is us. [Read more…] about ACURA ViewPoint: James W. Carden: Neocons Blame America First
ACURA’s Anatol Lieven and Quincy’s George Beebe: Ukraine at a crossroads
The United States has not tested the assumption that Russian President Vladimir Putin has no interest in talking.
VIDEO: Neutrality Studies with Pascal Lottaz: Neocons Prepare for Third World War
Instead of trying to find an exit strategy from the wars in Ukraine and Israel, the neocons are actively preparing for a third one and they are trying to instil a sense of urgency in everyone to jump into the abyss with them.
Robert Borosage: The Empire Strikes Back
Once more, wars abroad threaten domestic reform.
Military Times: Unknowns about Ukraine gear accountability revealed in watchdog report
An obtained early report illustrates the severe limitations of early accountability measures, and how much Americans officials trust their Ukrainian counterparts to self-police.
Amb. Chas Freeman: NATO Unity Has Cracked
In a new interview, legendary US diplomat Chas Freeman discusses the current state of NATO.
Vladimir Golstein: A Happy Guest in Russia’s Pages
The road to hell is paved with certainties.