Section: The American Interest (USA)
Myths about Russia and Swedish Non-Alliance
In the current debate about Nordic security, it is sometimes claimed that if Sweden and Finland joined the NATO alliance, it would increase regional tensions and serve as a provocation to Russia. A steady flow of articles and official statements from Russia assures us that Moscow has only been reactive in recent years, and acted merely to correct...
A Stasis in Europe
Today Europe is adrift, its politics mired in a reactive mode—a political stasis that at times looks more like “anticipatory paralysis” than leadership and governance. Its exhausted elites seem unable to offer much beyond crisis management. And with key elections in Europe upcoming, including a referendum in the United Kingdom slated for 2017 (as...
The Secret Plot to Destroy Russia
I was struck by a recent headline that read “Most Russians Believe USA Wants to Turn Russia into Second-Rate Country.” If it were truly America’s goal to diminish, debase, and ultimately destroy Russia, then how, indeed, would Washington go about it? With that question in mind, consider the following story.The text below, which appears to...
War and Impending Financial Disaster for Ukraine?
Evidence that the war in eastern Ukraine is heating up continues to mount: Russian-backed Ukrainian rebels are canceling military leave and mobilizing their full force in preparation for combat, according to a Russian state-run TV station. Several hours before the mobilization was announced, Vladimir Putin reportedly called an emergency meeting...
Should America Power Down?
Superpower: Three Choices for America’s Role in the Worldby Ian BremmerPortfolio, 2015, 240 pp., $27.95 In 1912, many people predicted that the United States would be one of the most powerful states in the 20th century. Its economy was strong and its potential seemingly limitless. But it would have been ludicrous to suggest that within a...
Labour’s Suicide by Socialism?
“I do not know if the people would vote for superior men if they ran for office,” Tocqueville once noted, “but there can be no doubt that such men do not run.” How easily those words spring to mind this summer in Britain. Here the opposition Labour party is voting for a new leader to replace Ed Miliband following its worst general election result...
France Settles with Russia Over Mistrals
Much to the consternation of France’s allies, after Putin’s annexation of Crimea Paris looked for a while like it was still going to deliver two Mistral-class warships, designed to carry helicopters and to mount amphibious assaults, to Russia. We followed the story pretty closely both because it served as a test of European solidarity...
Tit for Tat in the Skies Over the Baltic
Since Vladimir Putin seized Crimea and kicked off the international crisis over Ukraine, it’s been popular to measure how bad relations between Moscow and the West have gotten by tracking how many times Moscow has sent bombers, jets, ships, and even subs into or around opponents’ territory. By that metric, July was the worst month on...
Next Up in Donbas: A Dirty Bomb?
Ukrainian spooks have released a report that alleges that Russia and the rebels it backs in eastern Ukraine are trying to build a “dirty bomb.” According to the report, they are using the spent nuclear material stored under a Soviet-era chemical factory near the frontline of the conflict between Kiev’s forces and the rebels to make the...
Ukraine’s Summer of Discontent
We have known for some time that Ukraine has serious problems that it is failing to address. The economy continues to contract, and living standards are declining, for starters. Some reforms are moving quickly, but they’re typically the kinds people don’t want, like rising gas prices. The reforms that Ukrainians really want, like...
