Section: New Republic (USA)
Why Did Ukrainians Just Elect a Comedian President?
“He managed to be many things to many people at the same time,” one journalist and political commentator tells me. “I’ve met him,” said one NGO official and election observer. “He’s very smart, but he’s had to assemble a team of people to help him get this far.” We’re speaking in Ukraine, where comic actor Volodymyr...
The Oligarch Battle Behind Ukraine’s Presidential Election
If Ihor Kolomoisky wants to buy Ukraine’s presidency, as his critics allege, can you really blame him?A lifelong “raider,” as he calls those skilled at exploiting opportunity, Kolomoisky in his youth ferried electronics from Moscow to Ukraine during the collapse of the Soviet Union—a train line once graced by robbers in leather jackets who...
With Craig Indictment, Mueller Probe Sends Ripples Through the Swamp
The indictment of Gregory B. Craig, President Obama’s first White House Counsel, shows that while Robert Mueller’s investigation may be over, its effects continue to ripple outward across the nation’s capital. Paul Manafort’s prosecution was a wake-up call for Washington lobbyists, and Craig’s indictment is sounding...
Is Belarus Putin’s Next Land Grab?
Last summer, in a small town overlooking the Russian border, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko made a stark and pointed pronouncement. “If we don’t survive these years—if we fail,” he said, “it means we will have to become part of some other state, or they will simply wipe their feet on us. God forbid they unleash another war, like...
The Answer to Ukraine’s Problems Is…a Comedian?
Last night was hardly Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s first time on stage. And, after advancing to the second round of Ukraine’s presidential elections with a double-digit lead over the incumbent president, it will certainly not be his last.Speaking from the stage to a crowd of supporters and journalists at his Kyiv campaign headquarters—a...
The Plague Years
In August, the most important Islamic religious council in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, issued a public health opinion. The Indonesian Ulama Council, known as the MUI, decreed that observant Muslims in the country should consider the measles vaccine haram, or forbidden, because it contains gelatin derived from...
Ukraine’s War on Russian Disinformation Is a Lesson for America
The eighth and ninth graders didn’t realize their teacher was wrapping another skill inside their classes: how to spot fake news and hate speech. Students learning about world history also learned about how propagandists could manipulate the historical narrative. Language and literature students learned about the political uses of language....
Right Makes Might
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has eagerly embraced foreign autocrats, portraying brutal dictators as allies to be courted and celebrated. He has backed Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite evidence that he ordered the gruesome murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi; praised North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as...
Yes, Trump Obstructed Justice. And William Barr Is Helping Him Cover It Up.
In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee leaders on Sunday, Attorney General William Barr revealed that he would not charge President Trump with obstruction of justice over his efforts to thwart the investigation into whether his campaign conspired with Russia to swing the 2016 election. In order to do so, Barr performed a remarkable gimmick...
The Amnesia of the U.S. Foreign Policy Establishment
“Donald Trump is undermining the rules-based international order.” The Economist’s headline last summer summarized a common refrain within America’s foreign policy establishment. Trump “wants to undo the liberal international order the United States built,” Thomas Wright of the Brookings Institution warned on Inauguration Day in 2017....
