Section: The Huffington Post (USA)
The Global Middle Class: A Force for Radicalism
The growing middle class in developing countries has been touted as one of the most promising demographic changes in recent decades. Millions around the globe have been lifted out of poverty and are now enjoying a better quality of life. The trend is projected to continue until at least 2030, particularly in emerging market behemoths China and...
We Are All Ukrainians
The tale of two realities: an expensive motorcycle parked outside Tiffany’s in Lviv beside a memorial to a fallen hero in the War against Russia — Diane Francis My first visit to Ukraine was in February 1992 and the City of Kiev was gray, bleak and joyless as was the rest of the Soviet Union. Last month I re-visited — 23 years...
Ukraine’s Far-Right: Sifting Facts From Fiction
On July 4, 2015, one thousand far-right supporters and pro-government fighters marched through the center of Kiev, calling for the end of the Minsk ceasefire, the nationalization of Russian businesses, and a declaration of all-out war on Eastern Ukrainian separatists. The presence of visceral white supremacist symbolism and the leadership role...
Why China’s Key Role in BRICS Does Not Threaten U.S. Power
The BRICS nations convened in the Russian city of Ufa for the BRICS Summit last week to discuss cooperation on international and regional issues of common interest. The BRICS meeting was held in conjunction with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and represents the seventh formal meeting of the BRICS nations. The meetings discussed several...
Russia and the New Cold War in Historic Context: Part II of Conversations With Russia Scholar Stephen Cohen
On this, the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, Professor Cohen began our interview with a discussion about the increasing downplaying of Russia’s critical role as an ally of the U.S. and Britain in the fight against Hitler. As Cohen explains, popular films like Saving Private Ryan deceptively portray World II as...
The BRICS Summit: A Look at Some of the Issues
NEW DELHI — The BRICS summit in Ufa, the capital of the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, this week brought together the heads of government of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) in what’s already one of the world’s most unusually interesting international groupings. Jokingly dismissed by some as the only...
Why Should Washington Confront Russia if Europeans Won’t Protect Ukraine?
Europe is at risk, we are told. Russia’s assault on Ukraine threatens the post-Cold War order. Moscow may follow up with similar attacks on Moldova and even such NATO members as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. But no one in Europe seems to care. Even the countries supposedly in Vladimir Putin’s gun sites aren’t much concerned....
German-Led Eurogroup Launching Coup Against Greek Government
After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, Francis Fukuyama famously declared an end to history. Things, of course, would continue to happen, he said, but the clash of rival ideologies was over with the “unabashed victory of economic and political liberalism.” It was 1992, and it was a time to celebrate....
On The ‘Greek Question’
As I write these lines, the outcome of the extraordinary summit on the “Greek question” remains unknown. However, based on developments already underway, one can surely make several observations, which do not just concern Greece but more broadly the European Union and the way a crisis is being managed within the framework of a highly...
As the West Extends Sanctions on Russia, Putin’s Popularity Grows
By Woodrow W. Clark II and Dimitri Elkin (*) On June 22, 2015, the European Union voted to extend Russia sanctions for six months. Two days later, Russia retaliated, extending counter-measures that include a broad ban on European and American food imports for twelve months. The new round of this “tit-for-tat” strategy was surrounded...
