Section: The Atlantic (USA)
The Netanyahu Speech Drama Goes On
Netanyahu shares views with the United Nations in 2012 (Reuters) I have been on the road and off line during the festering of the Netanyahu speech drama. Updates: 1) Now that Even Abraham Foxman™ and Even Commentary Magazine have said that the speech is a bad idea, it has seemed a matter of time before Benjamin Netanyahu develops a cold or...
Vladimir Putin Has AK-47, Will Travel
Russian President Vladimir Putin hands an AK-47 to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo. (Egyptian Presidency) For a man who has run afoul of the United States and Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin sure does get around. In the past few months, Putin has popped up in far-flung ports from New Delhi to Nicaragua. On state visits,...
Obama Skips the ‘Red Line’ on Russia
Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP President Obama may be considering sending weapons to Ukraine to help its soldiers repel Russian-backed separatists, but he isn’t drawing a “red line” on what would prompt him to do so. The subject of a red line in foreign policy is, of course, an uncomfortable one for the president, who infamously...
Caught in the Crossfire in Eastern Ukraine
Battles in eastern Ukraine have surged anew, with the civilian population suffering dozens of deaths from ongoing rocket attacks. A collapse of peace talks in Belarus in mid-January preceded intensified fighting in Donetsk, with pro-Russian separatists making strides in capturing territory from the government in Kiev. Their main offensive is now...
The Moment to Arm Ukraine
Debaltseve, Ukraine (Sergey Polezhaka/Reuters) On Tuesday, the United Nations released its latest death toll in the ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine. The new figure represents an ominous turning point in the battle between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists that was supposed to have halted under a September ceasefire agreement. With...
Cold War Echoes in a New Russian Spy Ring
Vladimir Putin sits with the head of Russia’s spy agency, Mikhail Fradkov (right), in December. (Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti/Kremlin/Reuters) Secret rendezvous and document handoffs. Coded messages. Using money and sex as recruitment tools. A trip to Atlantic City to scout out a casino deal that turned out to be bogus. The charges that the...
A Deadly January in Ukraine
Manu Brabo/AP “Everything was agreed and signed in Minsk,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, moments before he pushed for new sanctions against Russia. What was agreed and signed in Minsk was a September ceasefire meant to end nearly five months of fighting between Ukrainian...
Photos of the Week: 1/17-1/23
This week we have scenes of India’s preparation for Republic Day, a new image of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft, continued unrest in eastern Ukraine, a Chinese home-made mechanical horse, a yarmulke made of hair samples (to disguise it), K-Pop hopefuls in Seoul, a volcano that has been creating a new...
How to Survive a Russian Invasion
With its mild climate and shuttered nuclear reactor, Lithuania has spent more than 20 years of independence largely free of both natural and technological disasters. But a new emergency-response manual being distributed by the Defense Ministry aims to prepare Lithuanians for a catastrophe far worse than a chemical spill or the occasional tornado....
Photos of the Week: 1/10-1/16
This week we have images of the “no pants” subway ride in Mexico City and New York, fish collected from an abandoned department store in Bangkok, Pope Francis on a week-long Asian tour, Ukraine’s festival of Malanka, snowy surfing in Northern Ireland, and much more.This article was originally published at...
