Section: The American Interest (USA)
A Short History of Russian Poisoning
On May 23, 1938, a Soviet intelligence agent named Pavel Sudoplatov assassinated the Ukrainian nationalist leader Yevhen Konovalets in Rotterdam. The order for the murder had come personally from Josef Stalin. The method was none too subtle: Sudoplatov had given his victim a box of chocolates, containing a bomb.Subtler forms of liquidation had...
Who’s Calling the Shots?
Russia, which was counting on countries like France, Italy and Spain to push for at least a partial relaxation of sanctions, is likely to be disappointed come July: EU sanctions will be extended through the end of the year, several papers are reporting. The Wall Street Journal: While the plans aren’t finalized—some haven’t even been...
Humiliation as a Tool of Blackmail
Russia today is a country trying to retain its great power status not by dint of success or dynamism or progress, but by cultivating a sense of grievance and resentment. Perhaps the most ominous expression of this Russian “humiliation syndrome” is to be found in its constant reminders to the world of what the humbling of another great nation...
Russia’s Outsized Reaction to Planned NATO Drills
Russia is holding massive military exercises along its European border in response to ongoing NATO-Sweden-Finland drills called Arctic Challenge. The drills are a scheduled, biennial event, so the Russian counter-exercises were unexpected, as Defense One reports: It was the degree of the robust Russian response that surprised Nordic and NATO...
Why The Kremlin Has To Keep Lying
Moscow has long denied that its troops are fighting in Ukraine. When foreigners come knocking with pesky questions, the Russian reply is always incredulous: “Who, us?” But for a domestic audience, the strategy has been a little different. The Kremlin’s control of television allows it to lay out the prevailing narrative for most Russians,...
Answer the Baltics’ S.O.S.
NATO’s Baltic members—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—are formally asking the alliance to deploy a “brigade-level permanent allied military presence” on their territory to deter Russia from repeating its salami-slice invasion of Ukraine. NATO should swiftly approve this request. It’s the best way to prevent war and preserve the...
Russia Massing on Ukraine Border, Denying Everything
Reuters journalists have witnessed a massing of Russian military materiel 50 kilometers from the border of Ukraine. Several shipments of Uragan multiple-rocket launchers, tanks, and self-propelled howitzers were seen arriving at the Kuzminsky firing range, just outside Luhansk province in Ukraine, with reporters estimating that the stock of...
After the Summit
The just-concluded Riga summit of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership delivered a clear message: the EU has no desire to offer any meaningful prospects of membership to the six partners (though only three, Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, are really in play). Without this overarching inducement, the Eastern Partnership will soon...
Tremors in Europe
Another European election, another surprise: Andrzej Duda stunned observers by sweeping Bronislaw Komorowski in Poland’s presidential elections. Duda, a member of the right-wing Law and Justice party, is projected to have won 52%-48%, pushing out the centrist Komorowski, whose party has been at Poland’s helm for eight years. The...
The Politics of Genocide
Last month marked the 100th anniversary of the first major genocide of the 20th century. The massacre of over one million Armenians by the Ottoman government in 1915 continues to fuel a fierce debate about what constitutes “genocide,” which groups were victims, and who were the criminals. It is past time, however, for the world to acknowledge...
