Section: The American Interest (USA)
The European Sanctions Dance
A deal on EU sanctions against Russia is emerging, and it could keep the fractious block on the same page ahead of this week’s EU summit. The sanctions will not be extended this month, but language will be approved to keep them in place until the full text of the Minsk agreements is implemented. The Wall Street Journal reports: The...
Has Russia’s Agony Begun?
In politics, even the inevitable can take you by surprise, turning victory into disaster. This is what Vladimir Putin has yet to understand. The Russian system of personalized power has demonstrated an amazing knack for survival, by changing its costume and pretending to be its opposite for a while, after which it returns to its predatory ways....
Hard Power Gestures From Russia and the West
After reappearing triumphantly following a mysterious absence, Vladimir Putin ordered a massive military drill during which personnel will be on high alert. Bloomberg News reports: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops placed on full combat readiness in snap drills in western Russia, as Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned the country...
EU and What Army?
With Russia’s tanks rolling in Ukraine and its fighter jets probing NATO airspace from the Baltics to Great Britain, Europe is facing security issues it hasn’t planned for in a generation. The usual maxim in these situations is si vis pacem, para bellum—if you seek peace, prepare for war. But in Europe, the thinking seems to be si vis...
A Big New Tranche of IMF Cash for Ukraine
The International Monetary Fund yesterday evening approved another massive payment to Ukraine, Bloomberg News reports: The International Monetary Fund approved a $17.5 billion loan program for Ukraine, including an immediate $5 billion disbursement, to help the former Soviet republic stave off default amid a conflict with pro-Russia rebels. […]...
Ukrainian Security Services Riddled With Russian Spies
Another data point for how deep a hole Ukraine finds itself in: it does not have a spy agency it—or its allies—can trust. The Wall Street Journal has a solid write-up detailing the recent history of the country’s security service: The agency, roughly equivalent to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and known by its Ukrainian acronym...
Ukrainians Want To Stay Together
A new poll done by the University of Maryland and the U.S. Institute of Peace has found that after a year of grinding conflict and a cratering economy, Ukrainians strongly oppose their country being divided. The USIP website has a write-up of the event where the findings were presented: Even in the country’s East, two-thirds favor a united...
Putin Pulls at Europe’s Seams
Vladimir Putin is trying to exploit the growing cultural and economic division between northern and southern Europe by persuading some of the EU’s more disaffected members to independently drop the sanctions that the union has placed on Russia. The LA Times reports: Since mid-February, though, Putin has met with leaders of four...
China Ready to Sign 2nd Major Gas Deal With Russia
We’ve already heard how eager Moscow is to sign a second gas deal with Beijing, but now it’s a Chinese minister’s turn to publicly tout the warming relationship and express a desire for a finalized deal in the near future. The Financial Times reports: The relationship between the two on-again, off-again Cold War allies is...
Russia’s Anti-American Fervor at Fever Pitch
Remember the jingoistic, post-9/11 days of “freedom fries” and “freedom toast,” after France declined to join the U.S.-led coalition? Well, in the wake of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the global backlash it has prompted, Russia is experiencing something similar, only intensified by total state control of the media. The Washington Post...
