Global Politics

There is every reason to believe that Russia will not come back into compliance with the INF Treaty, thus setting the stage for a US withdrawal from the landmark agreement. The demise of the INF Treaty would jeopardize ‘New START’, one of the last remaining pillars of the arms control regime. Although the agreement expires […]

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14,000 feet beneath the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean at the North Pole, a Russian flag forged in titanium rests on the seabed. The flag, planted by a manned submersible during a 2007 expedition, was conceived as a publicity stunt intended to promote Russia’s territorial claims in the Arctic. The expedition was immediately rebuked […]

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  Vladimir Putin’s Russia has, especially in recent years, come under heavy criticism from many in the West. Much of this criticism, however, deals with Russian aggression toward Ukraine, the extrajudicial killings of critics of the Putin regime such as Alexander Litvinenko, or accusations of widespread corruption. All of these issues are clearly in violation […]

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  On the cusp of a war in which millions lost their lives, borders shifted and modern warfare was revolutionized, Winston Churchill made an observation of Russia: “It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest.” For decades, Russia has fascinated […]

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The violence in Syria is escalating and the international community’s efforts to resolve the situation through the United Nations peace plan have failed, leading to Kofi Annan’s resignation as the UN’s Syria envoy. Syrians are in dire need of a peaceful, sustainable resolution but owing to the number of factions involved and the serious human […]

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Due to the International Association of Athletic Federations’ (IAAF) June 17th decision to maintain the suspension of the All-Russian Athletic Federation (ARAF), Russian track and field athletes will be largely ineligible for competition in the 2016 Olympic Games. Due to contrasting statements by the IAAF and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on June 21st, however, there reportedly remains […]

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Eastern and Central European states lined up at the NATO application window after the collapse of the Soviet Union.  And can anyone blame them after the events of the 20th century?  They were, after all, victimized by the Molotov-Ribbentrop treaty, the German Invasion, and then the subsequent Soviet “liberation” and forty- five year occupation. Yet […]

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Last year I criticized some of the hawk-like voices, including that of David Brooks of the NYT, which were calling for Barack Obama to increase the fear factor in dealing with Vladimir Putin over Ukraine. I should point out that I am decidedly not a fan of Putin, whose actions in Crimea and Ukraine have been reprehensible. However, we need […]

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