In the past, only the communist and socialist countries were pinpointed to be the countries under the “Iron Curtain.” But after the recent conflicts between the two blocs, it is now evident that even the USA, the leader of the so-called Free World, has gone under one kind of Iron Curtain. Though the term was occasionally used as a metaphor[Read More…]
We strongly condemn the deplorable actions of some of the protesters at Medea Benjamin’s book tour event on Friday, May 19 in Minneapolis, an event cosponsored by the local Veterans for Peace and Women Against Military Madness (WAMM). We believe that there are very legitimate, divergent positions on the war in Ukraine, even among people in the U.S. who have[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies On May 16, 2023, The New York Times published a full-page advertisement signed by 15 U.S. national security experts about the war in Ukraine. It was headed “The U.S. Should Be a Force for Peace in the World,” and was drafted by the Eisenhower Media Network. While condemning Russia’s invasion, the statement[Read More…]
Following the notorious coup in Ukraine in 2014, supported by the USA and some allies, which ousted a democratically elected government, a number of very important changes took places in policies. The political aspects of these policy changes have been better known even though largely ignored in the big media discourse. These include pressures from those who facilitated the coup[Read More…]
It’s a lose-lose situation for Ukrainians. While they are dying to defend their land, financial institutions are insidiously supporting the consolidation of farmland by oligarchs and Western financial interests. So says Frédéric Mousseau, Policy Director of the Oakland Institute, an independent think tank. Depending on which sources to believe, between 100,000 and 300,000 Ukrainian soldiers (possibly more) have died during[Read More…]
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has told CBS News that the conflict in Ukraine may be approaching a turning point, and that Chinese-brokered peace talks could begin by the end of 2023. “Now that China has entered the negotiation, it will come to a head, I think by the end of the year,” the 99-year-old diplomat told CBS[Read More…]
What Ukraine needs today above all is a large-scale, sustained, community-based rehabilitation and reconstruction effort, with added emphasis on nutrition, health, care for the ill and the injured, and many more sustainable livelihoods. So all well-wishers, real and fake ones, please send Ukraine medicines and medical equipment, generous economic support and construction material they may lack, but please keep your[Read More…]
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, realized early, in his country’s invasion of Ukraine, that adversaries do not always fight wars on a battlefield. The realization that Russian military superiority could not easily overcome Ukraine’s moral superiority and its defensive capabilities succeeded the recognition by Ukraine’s NATO allies that Russia could not be defeated militarily and might be defeated by imposing sanctions[Read More…]
Towards understanding the Impulse of Time, Nature of Things, Peace and Conflict Resolution Are we witnessing a time when most exemplary vigilance is subject to unthinkable surprises? We, the People, We, the Humanity realize that horrors of wars, forced displacement of several millions of people and human sufferings and pains coming out of the raging war between Russia, Ukraine and[Read More…]
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky, have spoken over the phone, in their first official conversation since Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine more than a year ago. Media reports said: Xi told Zelensky that “dialogue and negotiations are only viable way out.” “China will neither watch the fire from the other side, nor add[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Leaked document predicts a “protracted war beyond 2023.” Image credit: Newsweek The U.S. corporate media’s first response to the leaking of secret documents about the war in Ukraine was to throw some mud in the water, declare “nothing to see here,” and cover it as a depoliticized crime story about a 21-year-old[Read More…]
It’s sure to be a blood-soaked spring in Ukraine. Russia’s winter offensive fell far short of Vladimir Putin’s objectives, leaving little doubt that the West’s conveyor belt of weaponry has aided Ukraine’s defenses. Cease-fire negotiations have never truly begun, while NATO has only strengthened its forces thanks to Finland’s new membership (with Sweden soon likely to follow). Still, tens of thousands of[Read More…]
Brazilian President Lula da Silva said on Saturday: The U.S. and its allies should focus on promoting peace instead of fueling the Ukraine conflict by arming Kiev. Lula has concluded a state visit to China, his country’s primary trading partner. “The united States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace,” Lula told reporters in Beijing. “The European Union needs[Read More…]
All available evidence regarding the present situation in Ukraine appears to suggest that the best course of action here would be to have an unconditional ceasefire as early as possible, to be followed by an internationally supported, large-scale reconstruction and rehabilitation program as well as talks with Russia to settle all contentious issue and try to secure durable peace as[Read More…]
As Russian troops continue their assault on Ukraine, Western countries persist in invoking international law, imposing crippling sanctions against Russian leaders and entities while publicly supporting Ukrainian armed resistance and opening their borders with open arms to refugees. However, we see such support utterly absent for people enduring Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem as well[Read More…]
U.S. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, has commented on problems in stockpile of U.S. ammunitions and prospect of Ukraine winning the war this year. An AP report — Milley: US has long way to go to build munitions stockpile” (March 30, 2023) — said: The U.S. military “has a long ways to go”[Read More…]
“The hell of human suffering, evil and oppression is paved with good intentions. The men who have most injured and oppressed humanity, who have most deeply sinned against it, were according to their standards and their conscience good men; what was bad in them, what wrought moral evil and cruelty, treason to truth and progress, was not at all in[Read More…]
Concern over Russia’s potential use of nuclear weapons has been a constant feature of the Ukraine war. But Moscow has several ways to complicate Washington’s global nuclear outlook. On March 20, 2023, the British government confirmed it would supply Ukrainian forces with tank shells made with depleted uranium, which can “penetrate tanks and armor more easily due to its density and other physical properties.”[Read More…]
In view of the recent geopolitical upheavals, and particularly the war in Ukraine, it does not make sense (and does not promise much success) to build a new global security architecture based on the logic of a bipolar confrontation for several reasons… Firstly, a principal prerequisite for success of a confrontational “conflict strategy”—a far-reaching identity of interests with politically aligned[Read More…]
The final exchange, caught on camera between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian host and counterpart, Vladimir Putin, sums up the current geopolitical conflict, still in its nascent stages, between the United States and its Western allies on the one hand, and Russia, China and their allies, on the other. Xi was leaving the Kremlin following a three-day[Read More…]
The “Doomsday” clock has been advanced further due to the ongoing Ukraine war, which in reality, is a war between Russia and the US-led West and their collaborators elsewhere. Ukraine has now been promised advanced warplanes by some of the NATO countries. If it escalates further the Russian threat of using strategic nuclear weapons might not be ruled out altogether.[Read More…]
Nuclear stakes are rising around Ukraine. In response to UK’s plan to supply depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine, Putin has announced deploying of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Moreover, the U.S. has already deployed nuclear weapons in NATO countries around Russia, Media reports said: The EU will respond with further sanctions if Belarus presses ahead with hosting Russian nuclear weapons[Read More…]
Should they be taking them? Ukraine is desperate for any bit of warring materiel its armed forces can lay their hands on, but depleted uranium shells would surely not be a model example of use. And yet, the UK, in an act of killing with kindness, is happy to fork them out to aid the cause against the Russians, despite[Read More…]
The Russia-Ukraine war is unlikely to end on the battlefield and will instead come to a conclusion at a negotiating table, predicts a top U.S. general. A Business Insider report — Top U.S. general says it will be really hard and cost a lot of ‘blood and treasure’ for Ukraine to ‘kick out every single Russian’ invader, March 21, 2023, https://www.businessinsider.com/costs-ukraine-blood-treasure-kick-russia-invaders-out-us-general-2023-3[Read More…]
[The Russian invasion of Ukraine started in February 2022. With the aim of over-viewing what happened from the beginning of the war, to reflect on the role of NATO, and to consider possible future scenarios, Marcello Musto conducted a roundtable interview with three internationally well-known scholars from the Marxist tradition: Étienne Balibar, Anniversary Chair of Contemporary European Philosophy at Kingston[Read More…]
Those who have been following events in Ukraine will know of the bloodshed and destruction taking place in that country, especially if they go beyond mainstream media reports. This is not to excuse Russia’s brutal military actions, but it was a wholly avoidable conflict that was largely engineered in Washington by a clique of neoconservatives who have been responsible for igniting situations[Read More…]
A prosecutor has broad discretion in the exercise of her or his function. This is recognized in both common law countries in the principle of prosecutorial discretion and in civil law countries as the principle of opportunity. Indeed, even the European Court of Human Rights has acknowledged the principle of prosecutorial discretion in the case of Da Silva v the[Read More…]
It is evening in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, one of NATO’s easternmost members. I am waiting at the edge of Izvor Park in the city center to meet with a young friend who has fled Ukraine. In the backdrop of the park is the Palace of the Parliament, the brutalist architectural crown jewel of the Ceaușescu era, and the[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies March 19th marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq. This seminal event in the short history of the 21st century not only continues to plague Iraqi society to this day, but it also looms large over the current crisis in Ukraine, making it impossible for most of[Read More…]
In an anti-government demonstration on Saturday, thousands of Czechs joined protest march in Prague. Protesters decried falling living standards and rising prices, and their government’s continued military support of Ukraine. Media reports said: Organized by the right-wing Law, Respect, Expertise party (PRO), the rally saw demonstrators wave Czech flags and placards demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s government.[Read More…]
As is the case of long wars, the warring parties and their affiliated media in the Russia-Ukraine conflict have painted each other using uncompromising language, making it nearly impossible to offer an unbiased view of the ongoing tragedy that has killed, wounded and expelled millions. While it is understandable that wars of such horror and near complete disregard of the[Read More…]
Dear President Biden, My name is Olivia DiNucci and I am the anti-war activist who interrupted your dinner in DC the other night. You, the most powerful man in the world, were sitting right in front of me. Normal people like me don’t often have access to people like you and I couldn’t resist addressing you knowing we are in[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin, Marcy Winograd and Wei Yu There’s something irrational about President Biden’s knee-jerk dismissal of China’s 12-point peace proposal titled “China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis.” “Not rational” is how Biden described the plan that calls for de-escalation toward a ceasefire, respect for national sovereignty, establishment of humanitarian corridors and resumption of peace talks.[Read More…]
Europe is passing through critical times when a lot of caution as well determination is needed to avoid the possibility of large scale destruction. Hence this is a time for all those committed to a future of peace for Europe and for world to unite, setting aside all relatively less significant differences for the time being, to ensure that the[Read More…]
In 1946, Albert Einstein shot off a telegram to several hundred American leaders and politicians warning that the “unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.” Einstein’s forecast remains prescient. Nuclear calamity still knocks. Even prior to Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine, the threat of a nuclear[Read More…]
When the history of these times is written, the last 15 months or so from November 2021 to January 2023 will form a very tragic part of its pages. This has been the time of the most irresponsible abandonment of their most crucial responsibilities by world leadership, leading to a sharp, perhaps unprecedented, escalation of dangers and risks for the[Read More…]
Over the last few weeks, February 24, 2023 was the most observed day on geopolitical stage. The famous, and posing as dignified, MSM ceaselessly predicted and propagated: Russia is going to begin a new offensive on February 24, 2023 in Ukraine. But there was nothing like that. A year has passed since Russia began its Special Military Operation in Ukraine.[Read More…]
Rallies against the U.S.-led NATO bloc, the EU, supply of weapons to Ukraine and anti-war have been held across France, and in Italy and Germany. At protest sites, demonstrators defaced and tore down NATO and EU flags. Berlin Tens of thousands of Germans braved the elements to attend the Uprising for Peace, a massive rally organized by Die Linke (Left[Read More…]
At the G20 meeting in Bengaluru, India, the United States arrived with a simple brief. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said at the February 2023 summit that the G20 countries must condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and they must adhere to U.S. sanctions against Russia. However, it became clear that India, the chair of the G20, was not willing to[Read More…]
In October 2022, about eight months after the war in Ukraine started, the University of Cambridge in the UK harmonized surveys conducted in 137 countries about their attitudes towards the West and towards Russia and China. The findings in the study, while not free of a margin of error, are robust enough to take seriously. These are: For the 6.3 billion[Read More…]
As the war in Ukraine completes a year, different scenarios are being painted by different media. There can be no denial about the large-scale destruction of life, resources and environment, despite pacifist movements, despite the reality of climate change, despite the huge suffering of people. There were those who tried to continue in Ukraine, not just as soldiers but as[Read More…]
China’s foreign ministry has published its proposal for political settlement of the crisis in Ukraine on its website on Friday. Media reports said: China’s 12-point settlement plan includes a call for de-escalation and ceasefire. The document says: “All sides should show rationality and restraint, avoid fuelling tensions or taking steps to aggravate the conflict, avert further escalation and prevent the[Read More…]
by Katrina vanden Heuvel and James W. Carden As 2023 unfolds, we fear that American policy will continue to be characterized by both mission creep and the absence of any sort of diplomatic engagement with Russia. Throughout the course of the war, the Biden administration has slowly, steadily, even stealthily increased America’s involvement. Calls from Kiev for more and more weapons[Read More…]
War of words and display of cosmetic diplomacy by either or both President Joe Biden and/or President Vladimir Putin is least likely to help either USA or Russia win the Ukraine-war which has formally lasted for around a year. Ukraine-war in the hope of ensuring surrender/defeat of Russia, at present, probably bears greater importance for Biden on his domestic turf.[Read More…]
In an address to the Federal Assembly on February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would suspend its participation in the 2011 New START nuclear arms controls treaty. The treaty, which provided for a 50 percent reduction of the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers and a bilateral inspections regime, was the last remaining arms control treaty that[Read More…]
“The United States will provide Ukraine with a new $500 million infusion of aid to help the government in Kyiv continue paying salaries, pensions and providing services, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday. Yellen detailed the assistance following her meeting Wednesday with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Finance Minister Sergiy Marchenko, saying it was necessary to help their government[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies With the Ukraine war now reaching its one-year mark on February 24, the Russians have not achieved a military victory but neither has the West achieved its goals on the economic front. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States and its European allies vowed to impose crippling sanctions that would bring Russia[Read More…]
It is understood by all that at least two sides are required in a war scenario. One side must be waging war on another side. It is not required that the aggressed side fight back. To surrender to a warmaker, however, means coming under the suzerainty of the warmaker. That is almost always anathema to a people since people cherish[Read More…]
On Monday, US President Joe Biden arrived in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, pledging the United States’ commitment to the war with Russia for “as long as it takes.” The visit by the “commander in chief” to the front solidifies the conflict not only as an American war but as the defining and preeminent focus of the Biden administration. Coming[Read More…]
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Washington, DC Sunday for the ‘March Against the War Machine’ rally, with a number of prominent speakers from across the political spectrum of U.S. calling on the U.S. government to end its military support of Ukraine in favor of diplomacy, and slashing the Pentagon budget to address numerous domestic issues. The anti-war event held at[Read More…]
As the nuclear “Doomsday Clock” inches towards midnight, peace, anti-war and Climate Crisis activists took the streets today across the country to protest their “Rage against the War Machine” demanding substantive de-escalation of the Russian-Ukraine war and calling for “Not one penny for war in Ukraine” while emphatically calling for substantive changes to reverse the climate crisis. Participants in the[Read More…]
The Illegality of NATO: Violation of the UN Charter and the Nuremberg Principles In recent years, participation in NATO has made European countries accomplices in US efforts to achieve global hegemony by means of military force, in violation of international law, and especially in violation of the UN Charter, the Nuremberg Principles. Former UN Assistant Secretary General Hans Christof von[Read More…]
For a whole year, Israel has struggled in its attempts to articulate a clear and decisive position regarding the Russia-Ukraine war. The reason behind the seemingly confused Israeli position is that it stands to lose, regardless of the outcome. But is Israel a neutral party? Israel is home to a population of almost one million Russian-speaking citizens, one-third of them[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Fresh graves at a cemetery near Bakhmut, December 2022. – Photo credit: Reuters In a recent column, military analyst William Astore wrote, “[Congressman] George Santos is a symptom of a much larger disease: a lack of honor, a lack of shame, in America. Honor, truth, integrity, simply don’t seem to matter, or[Read More…]
A quarter of a million people have signed an online petition urging German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to stop increasing the flow of weapons to Ukraine and to push for a peaceful resolution of the conflict instead. The petition, started on change.org by German politician Sahra Wagenknecht and journalist Alice Schwarzer, accrued over 250,000 signatures about two days since its creation. Ukraine Is[Read More…]
The people of Ukraine have suffered enormous distress during the last one year. Clearly it is time to consider carefully the various options and select the safest one involving the least possibilities of further distress and risks. From all available evidence the safest possible path from the point of view of the people of Ukraine appears to be a three[Read More…]
As the prospects of world peace worsen and those of a war much beyond Ukraine increase, the role of Europe becomes increasingly important. Europe was at the center of the enormous destruction caused by both the world wars. As the possibilities of a third one increase, can Europe compensate by being the peacemaker this time? Certainly Europe, with all its[Read More…]
Every conflict, including this one in Ukraine, always leads to refugees. Considering the size of Ukraine, it is not surprising that a large number of Ukrainian refugees are in Russia and in Europe. Ukrainian refugees were the topic of an interesting online conference, where you could hear very interesting information from experts about Ukrainian refugees in the Baltics. The name[Read More…]
Remnants of KPFM-1S-SK cassettes manufactured in 1988 that Human Rights Watch researchers found in Izium in October 2022. These cassettes are used for the delivery of PFM mines by the 9M27K3 Uragan mine-laying rocket. The cassette opens in flight using a small explosive charge to separate it from the rocket motor section of the weapon and scatters 312 PFM mines[Read More…]
It has been customary to discuss war in terms of victory or defeat of the two sides. So it is hardly surprising that the ongoing Ukraine war too has often been discussed in these terms. However there are important reasons why such discussion is increasingly irrelevant, the most important being that even a victory by any one side in the[Read More…]
Nearly a year in, the war in Ukraine has cost hundreds of thousands of lives and brought the world to the brink of, in President Joe Biden’s own words, “Armageddon.” Alongside the literal battlefield, there has been a similarly bitter intellectual battle over the war’s causes. Commentators have rushed to declare the long-criticized policy of NATO expansion as irrelevant to the war’s[Read More…]
It seems to be a case of little provision for so much supposed effect. The debates, the squabbles, the to-and-fro about supplying Ukraine with tanks from Western arsenals has served to confirm one thing: this is an ever-broadening war between the West against Russia with Ukraine an experimental proxy convinced it will win through. Efforts to limit the deepening conflict[Read More…]
U.S. & NATO Battle Tanks sent to Escalate War Against Russia in Ukraine This article was inspired by Michael Brenner, a wise man beyond his years, who is a Professor Emeritus of International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh; a Senior Fellow at the Center for Trans-Atlantic Relations, SAIS-John Hopkins (Washington D.C.) and; the author of numerous books and contributor[Read More…]
The transformation of Ukraine into untarnished, saintly victim, symbol of democracy and civil society savaged by brutish Russia, has been nothing less than remarkable. The endemic corruption of a state captured by oligarchic tendencies and its own breed of kleptocrats has somehow gone by the wayside, only interrupted by the occasional symbolic purge by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Lo,[Read More…]
Contradictory statements on war with Russia are coming. U.S. and EU officials have previously gone out of their way to claim they were not a party to the conflict in Ukraine. Arguing in favor of sending tanks to Kiev, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said EU countries were fighting a war against Russia. “Arguing therefore I have said already in[Read More…]
The 26 January JTA Daily Briefing arrived in my mailbox with the subject: “Major Israeli Raid in Jenin Kills 9 Palestinians.” I was sadly dumbfounded by the imparted insensitivity and inhumanity. Would any humanity-loving organization blare such news about the killing of the Other? Supposedly, the Oslo accords were a movement toward peace, but Zionist Israel has continued to wreak[Read More…]
Friday, January 27th, marks 50 years since the signing of the Paris Peace Accords by representatives from the United States, North and South Vietnam effectively ending American participation in the Vietnamese civil conflict. What the Georgetown University international relations scholar Charles Kuphan calls an “isolationist impulse” made a “significant comeback in response to the Vietnam War, which severely strained the[Read More…]
The small Ukrainian city of Bakhmut has seemingly limited strategic significance. But coupled with its growing psychological value, Russia will continue attempting to take the city, despite high casualties, by whatever means necessary. Since the Ukrainian army’s counteroffensive started gaining momentum in September 2022, the Russian army has largely been on the defensive. Russian drone and missile strikes continue to target Ukraine’s major[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies The 2023 Doomsday Clock statement – Image credit: the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has just issued its 2023 Doomsday Clock statement, calling this “a time of unprecedented danger.” It has advanced the hands of the clock to 90 seconds to midnight, meaning that the world[Read More…]
The war in Ukraine will cost Germany, Europe’s largest economy, €175 billion ($190 billion) this year, which equates to €2,000 per inhabitant, German media outlet Deutsche Welle reported on Monday, citing a report by the Institute of German Economics (IW). Authors of the study compared the current situation to an imaginary scenario in which there was no military operation in[Read More…]
When the first Russian forces began entering Ukrainian territory in February 2022, the instant reaction from Europe, the UK, Canada and Australia, was one of open commitment to Ukraine’s refugees. The relentless human trains heading westwards were initially embraced by Poles, whose history with Ukraine is, at best, tense and sketchy. Across Europe, walls came down in dispensation for this[Read More…]
PORTENTS OF THINGS YET TO COME ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! It’s now going to take literally every citizen of the world to assume more personal responsibility to end: the hellish war in Ukraine; stop the wholesale slaughter of humanity, and the ever more rapid extinction of the earth’s biodiversity. The world’s politicians, militarists and international corporate CEOs, especially those who support[Read More…]
Unthinkable as it may be, humanity, every last person, could someday be wiped from the face of the Earth…..A discussion about the future of humanity is about how the important fundamental features of the human condition may change or remain constant in the long run…. Extinction risks constitute an especially severe subset of what could go badly wrong for humanity…. The greatest[Read More…]
Millions of Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. The longer the war continues, the less likely they are to return, with dire consequences for Ukraine. Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has created the largest refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. While millions of Ukrainian refugees have since returned home, almost 2.9 million moved to Russia, according[Read More…]
The division of Left political positions and ideological formulations over Russian invasion of Ukraine are disturbing. It sends a wrong message to the working-class politics across the globe. It is imperative for the Left to reflect on how its political confusions provide ideological justifications for different forms of wars and conflicts. None of the bourgeoisie wars and conflicts serve working[Read More…]
There is no propaganda better than that which achieves totality. When worldviews coalesce into one small box that is crushed and cemented into the ground. It is this tightly framed ground that allows an internally uncontested, destructive US foreign policy to play another major role in famine and, also, in a country’s destruction. Pro-Saudi and the pro-Israel propaganda has had[Read More…]
No end to the Ukraine War is in sight. Peace and solutions to the problems have been made conditional to too many big “ifs” and “when’s”. Wrong calculations from both sides have led to the present stalemate. And instead of looking for a reasonable and mutually acceptable way out, they are trying to achieve a unilateral victory that is not[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, known for his staunch support for Ukraine, recently revealed his greatest fear for this winter to a TV interviewer in his native Norway: that the fighting in Ukraine could spin out of control and become a major war between NATO and Russia. “If things go wrong,” he[Read More…]
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak shared his first in-office New Year message on Saturday, admitting that “it has been a very tough year for the UK” and that the country’s problems “would not go away” in 2023 either. The PM largely blamed Britain’s hardships on Russia and its conflict with Ukraine. “I am not going to pretend that all our[Read More…]
While the most visible devastation of the Ukraine war can be seen in the enormous sufferings of the people of Ukraine, the implications of this war turning sooner or later into a much wider war, perhaps even a nuclear war and the third world war, are simply too horrible to contemplate. Hence immediate peace is needed, creating conditions also for[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meets in Lodz, Poland, on December 1, 2022. Photo credit: OSCE On December 27 2022, both Russia and Ukraine issued calls for ending the war in Ukraine, but only on non-negotiable terms that they each know the other side will reject. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister[Read More…]
The fear of US aid to Ukraine being blocked has been averted with the roughly $1.65 trillion spending bill having been passed by the Senate and the House. The bill includes around $45 billion in aid to Ukraine’s war efforts and NATO allies. President Joe Biden was keen for its passage ahead of Christmas vacation while the Congress remains under[Read More…]
Just before Christmas and holidays the Veterans for Peace organization has issued a call for ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict and at least a holiday truce which deserves wide attention. This statement has been signed by about 38 members, former or present office-bearers as well as a leading advisory board member. Veterans for Peace (VFP) is also an important constituent[Read More…]
On November 1, the deputy director of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation downplayed remarks made on October 30 by an agency official, who warned of Western weapons bound for Ukraine being smuggled into Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. Nonetheless, the affair generated significant attention and reflected previous concerns expressed by European authorities over Ukraine’s vulnerability to organized crime and the repercussions for the[Read More…]
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in an interview published on Thursday: Ukraine has no choice but to fight for the 1991 borders, because the world failed to guarantee its security and Ukraine alone is paying the price of the conflict. The Economist spoke with Zelensky on December 8, but published an edited transcript only a week later. Just two days prior to[Read More…]
As a careful observer of the Ukrainian-Russian-US/Nato war I was happy to see Medea Benjamin and Nick Davis approaching that war in Dec.1’22 issue of Countercurrents. I noticed that the Codepink, the group led by Medea Benjamin was the first on the Left, which while acknowledging the responsibility of the US/NATO as many other leftist groups in the country for[Read More…]
Ukraine-crisis may be viewed as another example of the degree to which United States can push diplomatic ethics to side-lines against priorities which define its own interests. Of the others, Washington’s approach towards Afghanistan is a fairly recent example and the most striking is probably the hype raised about democratic revolution in the name of “Arab Spring” which reduced to[Read More…]
Western economic punishments on Russia continue to severely limit its economic prospects. But they also risk hastening the development of sanctions evasion techniques and rival economic mechanisms outside the control of Brussels and Washington. Immediately after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S., the UK, and the EU placed major sanctions on Russia to constrict its economy and restrain[Read More…]
German police has a long history that reaches even into the Ukraine. Ever since Browning’s work on the Reserve Police Battalion 101, we have known that there were – unsurprisingly – plenty of police officers supporting the Nazis’ killing machine. These policemen were, more often than not, rather ordinary men. Yet, their past is catching up with them, even in[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies As the war in Ukraine has dragged on for nine months and a cold winter is setting in, people all over the world are calling for a Christmas truce, harkening back to the inspirational Christmas Truce of 1914. In the midst of World War I, warring soldiers put down their guns and[Read More…]
![A graphic created by NATO showing the military alliance’s “eastern flank.” [Photo: NATO]](https://cdn.countercurrents.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NATO-Ukraine-200x150.webp "NATO summit vows to continue troop surge to Russia’s borders 171")
NATO foreign ministers met in Bucharest, Romania, on Tuesday, along with representatives of the prospective NATO members Ukraine, Finland, and Sweden to discuss a further expansion of the NATO war with Russia in Ukraine and the stationing of more troops on Russia’s Western borders. “In response to Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, we are raising the readiness of our troops,”[Read More…]
The crimes of the Ukrainian army, which we can often see on social networks, horrify the entire civilized world. And if the West is the main financier and logistics provider for the Ukrainian army, the crimes committed by Ukrainian soldiers appalled even them. After the recent Ukrainian war crime in Makiivka, it was the Western media that put pressure to[Read More…]
Last week, Ukraine fired at least one missile into Poland, killing two Polish civilians, with the aim of blaming Moscow and drawing NATO directly into war with Russia. While the US and other NATO members rejected the claim by Ukraine that the missile strike was launched by Russia, the European countries have significantly increased their involvement in the conflict over the[Read More…]
The European Union must cast aside all doubts about new anti-Russia sanctions and double down on slapping Moscow with new restrictions that would curb its missile industry, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on Tuesday. Speaking at a regular briefing, Kuleba urged the EU to speed up the work on its ninth sanctions package, which he described as long overdue.[Read More…]
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned: This winter may be a “life-threatening” experience for “millions” of Ukrainians. Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, has warned: Up to three million Ukrainians are expected to migrate “in search of warmth and safety.” Kluge made this warning on Monday during a press conference in Kiev. “We expect 2-3 million more people[Read More…]
Latest news from the battlefields of Ukraine indicate that the war game is moving in uncertain and unpredictable directions, and nothing is happening in terms of a final score – either by the Russians who have invaded Ukraine or the Ukrainians who are defending their territory. Russia’s recent decision to withdraw its foot soldiers from Kharson could be a temporary [Read More…]
Ukraine has been accused of “openly lying” about a missile that hit Poland killing two civilians, earlier this week, the Financial Times reported on Thursday citing an unnamed diplomat from a NATO country. Ukraine rushed to pin the blame on Moscow, while the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that footage from the site showed “elements of a missile from an S-300[Read More…]
Wars tend to bury facts. What comes out of them is often a furiously untidy mix of accounts that, when considered later, constitute wisps of fantasy and presumption. Rarely accepted in the heat of battle is the concept of mistake: that a weapon was wrongly discharged or errantly hit an unintended target; a deployment that went awry; or that the[Read More…]
U.S. President Joe Biden has said Tuesday’s blast on Polish territory, which killed two civilians, was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile, Reuters has reported. The U.S. leader shared the information with his G7 and NATO partners, the news agency wrote on Wednesday, citing an anonymous NATO source. The incident in the village of Przewodow near the border with[Read More…]
An alleged missile strike in Poland Tuesday has killed 2 people. The Polish military and prosecutors have arrived at the scene of the blast, Visegrad 24 reports. The incident has increased tension. The incident occurred amid a large-scale missile attack that Russia launched at Ukraine. The Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushenko called it the “most massive shelling of Ukraine’s energy[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Senators Inhofe and Reed from the Senate Armed Services Committee Photo credit: AP If the powerful leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senators Jack Reed (D) and Jim Inhofe (R), have their way, Congress will soon invoke wartime emergency powers to build up even greater stockpiles of Pentagon weapons.[Read More…]
Presentation at the People’s Public Health Conference, November 4, 2022 Introduction: This talk will define imperialism and apply it to Russia and the US, identify the material and political causes of the war, depict the health and economic costs of this war, and recommend urgent strategies to end it. Imperialism Imperialism operates when industrialized countries must find new markets to[Read More…]
The midterm elections in the US witnessed razor-thin races as Senate and House control hangs in the balance. But that didn’t discourage President Biden from holding a press conference on Wednesday to stake claim that the “giant red wave” didn’t happen. Biden said: “Democrats had a strong night. And we lost fewer seats in the House of Representatives than any Democratic President’s[Read More…]
The US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s meetings with Ukrainian leaders, including President Vladimir Zelensky, in Kiev has created a lot of confusion and misperceptions. One one side, the White House maintains that the trip aimed “to underscore the United States’ steadfast support to Ukraine and its people.” The readout stated that Sullivan also affirmed “the continued provision of economic and humanitarian[Read More…]
The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine’s leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is removed from power, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. The leading U.S. daily quoted unnamed people familiar with the discussions as saying that the request by U.S. officials[Read More…]
The international crisis over the status of the Crimean Peninsula was in February-March 2014 when the peninsula became returned to the state’s territory of Russia from Ukraine. The Western Russophobic narrative immediately accused Russia of illegitimate annexation of the peninsula as well as of the occupation of the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. However, the same narrative is not telling[Read More…]
The illuminating article in Countercurrents (November 1, 2022) by Mr. Sumanta Banerjee, “Leftist response to the war in Ukraine”, deserves discussion as it focuses on (1) the most burning issue of the moment – the Ukraine War, (2) the Indian Left’s position on the issue, and (3) a few observations on Stalin and Mao. Mr. Banerjee begins with a question:[Read More…]
U.S. troops are now on the ground in Ukraine, where they are monitoring NATO arms deliveries to the country, an anonymous Pentagon official told several U.S. media outlets on Monday. It is unclear how many personnel are involved, or where they are located. While Americans have fought and died in Ukraine of their own accord, Monday’s announcement marks the first[Read More…]
The Russian military closed the so-called “grain corridor” used to ship Ukrainian agriculture products through the Black Sea on Monday. The move was provoked by the actions of Ukraine, which used the route to launch attacks on Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said. “Any navigation through the security corridor designated under the Black Sea grain shipment initiative would be halted[Read More…]
With the U.S. midterm elections looming and Europe’s economic situation deteriorating, the threat of reduced international support for Ukraine could limit Kyiv’s options heading into the new year. Since February 24, 2022, Ukraine’s armed forces have successfully defended much of their country. But without American assistance, the Ukrainian military campaign would have likely floundered months ago. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of[Read More…]
While the war rages on in Ukraine, how is the Left facing the multi-dimensional complex challenges thrown up by the war and the ravages that it is heaping upon its people ? The writer Arundhati Roy, in a lighter vein has summed up the Left’s dilemma as “tortuous yoga asanas – some pretty drastic seeing and unseeing – depending on [Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Biden and Jayapal at a negotiating table in October 2021 – Photo credit: The White House Ukraine has been wracked by shocking destruction and deadly violence since Russia invaded the country in February. Estimates of the death toll range from a confirmed minimum of 27,577 people, including 6,374 civilians, to over 150,000.[Read More…]
Bogeyman politics tends to be flatly unimaginative. The image of the nuclear-mad Russian President, counting his diminishing options, has caught the imagination of press and propaganda outlets across the West. Will Mad Vlad go the distance and deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine? Certainly, his rhetoric suggests the possibility. Vladimir Putin has promised to “make use of all weapon systems[Read More…]
The U.S. legislators group known as Congressional Progressive Caucus retracted a letter that was sent on Monday calling for U.S. President Biden to pursue a diplomatic end to Russia’s war on Ukraine, saying it was not properly vetted prior to its release. Thirty members of the roughly 100-member group of Democratic legislators signed it. Media reports said: “The letter was[Read More…]
Sometimes this happens also in personal life—someone who insists he is helping you keeps pushing you in the direction of harm and even ruin. Something similar seems to have unfortunately been the fate of Ukraine in recent times—those who kept insisting about helping Ukraine have actually kept pushing it towards ruin. It was certainly possible for Ukraine to have a[Read More…]
A multifaceted response from Europe has so far prevented its energy woes from creating widespread social and economic destabilization. But with winter approaching, the crisis is far from over and risks are getting worse. While European energy prices have eased slightly in recent months, stress continues to build across a continent that has long been dependent on access to cheap Russian[Read More…]
The U.S. is Obsessed With Destroying Russia “To The Last Dead Ukrainian Soldier” FOREWORD The war in Ukraine continues to move ever closer to a nuclear confrontation between the United States and Russia as loggerhead tensions continue to mount between these two super powers with the U.S. resolutely declaring it will ultimately defeat Russia, while Russia resolutely declares it will[Read More…]
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. This war has been horrendous, though it does not compare with the terrible destruction wrought by the U.S. bombardment of Iraq (“shock and awe”) in 2003. In the Gomel region of Belarus that borders Ukraine, Russian and Ukrainian diplomats met on February 28 to begin negotiations toward a ceasefire. These talks fell apart. Then, in early March, the two[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Marcy Winograd In a dramatic break with the Biden administration on the eve of the midterm elections, 30 House Democrats sent a letter to President Biden urging him to engage in direct talks with Russian President Vladmir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. In addition to bilateral talks, signatories to the letter, initiated by Progressive[Read More…]
Russia’s defense chief warned Sunday: Ukraine was preparing a provocation involving a radioactive device. An AP report said: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the allegations in phone calls with his counterparts from the U.S., Britain, France and Turkey. Shoigu voiced concern about “possible Ukrainian provocations involving a ‘dirty bomb,’” a device that uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste. It[Read More…]
The statehood of Ukraine like Ukrainian ethnolinguistic identity is one of the most problematic research topics. Ukraine herself has, in addition, extremely artificial state borders from very historical and political points of view. Even the name of the country and nation is very unusual and even unnatural as the Slavonic term “Ukraine” means in English “borderland” while “Ukrainians” are simply[Read More…]
Russian officials in Kherson, the port city at the mouth of the Dnieper River, announced plans Tuesday to evacuate civilians ahead of an expected Ukrainian offensive to recapture the city. Officials from Kherson, which Russia seized during its offensive earlier in the year, said the evacuations were “to avoid casualties among the civilian population.” Parts of the city are just[Read More…]
On October 11 over 100 leading peace organizations of the USA released a joint statement calling upon President Biden to “end the US role in escalating the extremely dangerous tensions with Russia over Ukraine.” This statement has stated very clearly, “It is greatly irresponsible for a President to participate in brinkmanship between two nations that possess 90% of the world’s[Read More…]
We in India have evry reason for concern as despite contradictory reports our economy already seems to be under severe stress,and the fortunes of this war are likely to have incalculable impact on world economy and trade.It is most necessary to have a fair idea of the way this war is going.True we made windfalls gains like cheap Russian crude[Read More…]
by Marcy Winograd and Medea Benjamin In a moment of candor, President Biden told Democratic Party contributors the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is the highest since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union installed nuclear missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from Florida. Referring to Russian President Putin’s veiled threats to use short-range nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the President[Read More…]
Continuity of Ukraine-crisis may be viewed as harsh illustration of what display of extremism by leadership at certain levels can lead to. At the outset, refusal of Russian President Vladimir Putin to step back from continuing war-strikes against Ukraine stands out. It also marks failure of diplomatic strength of key powers as well as international organizations supposed to be keenly[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies On March 11, 2022, President Biden reassured the American public and the world that the United States and its NATO allies were not at war with Russia. “We will not fight a war with Russia in Ukraine,” said Biden. “Direct conflict between NATO and Russia is World War III, something we must[Read More…]
“…The greatest revolution of our time is, therefore, a procedural revolution, removal of injustice through a mode of action characterized by justice. The question here is not so much the contents of justice as the mode to achieve it. Constitutional and orderly processes are often not enough. They are then transgressed by the use of weapons. In order that it[Read More…]
The New York Times reports that President Biden told a group of billionaires at a fundraising event Thursday night: “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.” Biden continued: “We are trying to figure out: What is Putin’s off ramp? Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself where he does[Read More…]
NOTE: For these 6 Finale videos, there is no accompanying written essay that matches each video. The videos are each presentations given extemporaneously with charts. This concludes the series of essays and videos on the application of the Paradigm for Peace model to the Russia/US conflict in Ukraine and beyond. While I had intended to walk through each part of[Read More…]
NOTE: For these 6 Finale videos, there is no accompanying written essay that matches each video, because the videos are each presentations given extemporaneously, with charts. The following text is an introduction to the video that does not include the bulk of the video’s material but that contains additional material not included in the video. While there seems to be[Read More…]
NOTE: For these 6 Finale videos, there is no accompanying written essay that matches each video, because the videos are each presentations given extemporaneously, with charts. The following text is an introduction to the video that does not include the bulk of the video’s material but that contains additional material not included in the video. Once you’ve laid out and[Read More…]
While it would be expected for Western media to report fully on civilian life taken in the Ukraine by the military of US designated enemy Russia, and for CIA managed Western media[1] to avoid reporting civilian loss of life caused by US/NATO military throughout the Third World, people in Asia, Africa, MiddleEast and Latin America are surly noticing an element of racism[Read More…]
In the build-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the USA was on the one hand provoking Russia in numerous ways to attack and on the other hand saying to its European allies and other countries—Look how dangerous is Putin’s Russia—attacking its weaker neighbor so aggressively. Unfortunate as such conduct was, it could be understood by those who had followed[Read More…]
Seven months after the Russian invasion started, the Ukraine crisis has become the biggest flashpoint which can endanger world peace. From the point of view of those who cherish world peace, the situation is fast becoming more perplexing, difficult and dangerous than before. It may sound alarmist to ask whether we are moving closer to a world war type situation[Read More…]
NOTE: For these 6 Finale videos, there is no accompanying written essay that matches each video, because the videos are each presentations given extemporaneously, with charts. The following text is a detailed synopsis of the video that doesn’t include all of the video’s material but that also contains much additional material not included in the video. While the first two[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Photo credit: UN We have spent the past week reading and listening to speeches by world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York. Most of them condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the UN Charter and a serious setback for the peaceful world order that is the UN’s[Read More…]
NOTE: For these 6 Finale videos, there is no accompanying written essay that matches each video, because the videos are each presentations given extemporaneously, with charts. The following text is a synopsis that also contains additional material not included in the video. The first of the four elements of the Paradigm for Peace model involves an examination of the Roots of[Read More…]
In an important development with serious implication, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR) along with Kherson Region (87%) and part of Zaporozhye Region (93%) in southern Ukraine have voted to join Russia in referendums that were held between September 23 and 27. Media reports said: In Lugansk, more than 98.42% of voters have supported the idea to[Read More…]
Paradigm for Peace is a model that I created in the autumn of 2001, following 9/11. The model has four elements: The Defensive and Aggressive Roots of Violence The Mental, Legal, and Physical Escalators of Violence Three Facets of Solutions Cooperative Dialogue A major purpose of this model is to promote understanding, truth, and caring. In this video, I use[Read More…]
With the passage of time, not only has distress and destruction associated with the Ukraine war increased, in addition the possibility of peace has become more distant and difficult. As in the case of many wars that drag on, more unfortunate incidents and statements become the cause of increasing bitterness on both sides and this itself then becomes the reason[Read More…]
Europe could have criticized the Russian invasion as much as it wanted, it could have called Putin authoritarian as many times as it desired and of course it could (should) have provided even more humanitarian assistance to Ukraine refugees/displaced persons, but its more or less unquestioning acceptance of the role of the USA in Ukraine certainly raises several disturbing questions.[Read More…]
There has already been significant criticism of the Ukraine policy of the USA government from a perspective of world peace. The base of US policy is the concept of a proxy war that can bleed and weaken Russia as much as possible (at great cost to the people of Ukraine as well as the peace and stability of the rest[Read More…]
Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, in the very next month of March an important initiative was launched with the help of Turkish diplomats. Right through this month this initiative appears to have progressed well, and broad agreements for ceasefire were substantially reached, even though details remained to be worked out. Among other things, this is likely to[Read More…]
Russia’s use of tactical nuclear weapons could trigger a cataclysmic nuclear exchange. During the first days of the Ukraine war, former Senator Sam Nunn warned that the Ukraine War was a Cuban Missile Crisis in slow motion. That warning was recently reiterated by senior analysts in Moscow during an off the record conversation. The war is about Ukraine and much more:[Read More…]
September 21 will be remembered in history as a day when the Ukraine crisis appeared to be escalating very sharply. Russian President Vladimir Putin called up 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine and backed a plan for territorial gains to make up for some recent reverses. In an address to his country he said, “If the territorial integrity of our[Read More…]
Russia is going to make a partial mobilization of its reservists. It is a mobilization of 300,000 reservists. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization during an address to the nation on Wednesday morning. He said the Defense Ministry had recommended drawing military reservists into active service as the country faces a protracted conflict in Ukraine and Donbass.[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4S. Obtuse US and UK “experts” issue libelous statements re: Putin’s concept of unity False Bias #19. When Putin Speaks of “Unity,” He Means That Ukrainians Aren’t Ukrainians but Russians and that Russia and Ukraine Should Merge into One Nation. Peter Dickinson, a member of the[Read More…]
The Biden administration will soon release its National Security Strategy, which is being revised in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The document will no doubt trigger a renewed debate about how the United States should gear up for a new Cold War against Russia and China. But before we plunge into a global great-power competition, it’s worth recalling President Biden’s[Read More…]
Several peace activists in the USA recently observed a peace week during September 12-15 to mobilize more and more people for pressurizing US government policy towards peace-based solutions, instead of merely announcing weapon supply increases to an already deeply ravaged region. This effort was coordinated by Peace in Ukraine Coalition (PIUC) and spread to several parts of USA including Washington,[Read More…]
At what stage can the USA’s increasing military assistance to Ukraine become like a direct conflict-or war- with Russia? This is one of the most significant questions facing humanity today, with very dangerous implications not just for these three countries but the entire humanity. Reuters reported on August 2 ( see news report titled ‘Russia says United States is directly[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers- Part 4R. The nature of a “US-led rules-based order” False Bias #18. Russia Is at Fault for Overturning the “US-Led Rules-Based Order,” Which Is a Benign, Just, Egalitarian, Democratic, Cooperative, and Peaceful Order to Spread Positive Political, Economic, and Cultural Values. The previous essay referred to the January[Read More…]
by Andre Damon & Joseph Kishore A staggering recklessness has overtaken the American ruling class. It is treating the prospect of nuclear war, which would mean the deaths of millions and the potential annihilation of life on the planet, as a real possibility that must not be allowed to deter its geopolitical objectives in waging war against Russia over Ukraine.[Read More…]
Though Washington insists that it is not interested in a direct military conflict with Moscow, the latter claims that the US is, in fact, directly involved. But who is telling the truth? On September 8, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, appeared in Kyiv on an unannounced visit. He carried with him pledges of yet another military and financial package[Read More…]
by Yevgeny Ivanov & Ashish Singh The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has seriously affected Europe. In August 2022, annual inflation in the EU exceeded 10%[1]. Political leaders are looking for solutions to the looming energy crisis[2]. However, the consequences of events in Ukraine affect other parts of the world too. African countries depend heavily on Russian and Ukrainian[Read More…]
US Policy Makers Must Listen to Gerry Condon Gerry Condon, former President of Veterans of Peace, a USA-based global organization of Military Veterans and allies with 140 chapters worldwide whose collective efforts are to build a culture for peace and end all wars, has very recently written a letter to President Biden which needs to be widely read by all[Read More…]
Part 4q. US and NATO policymakers blame Putin, and not themselves, for violating the post-cold war settlement False Bias #17. This Confrontation Is Not America’s or NATO’s Fault. Russia Is to Blame for “Rolling Back” the Post-Cold War Settlement. In his January 29, 2019 testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee for the Senate Hearing of the National Defense[Read More…]
Europe is struggling with energy crisis. Reports by media including AP and ABC News said: Europe is struggling to contain an energy crisis that could lead to rolling blackouts, shuttered factories and a deep recession. The primary cause: Russia has choked off the supplies of cheap natural gas that the continent depended on for years to run factories, generate electricity[Read More…]
Part 4P. Proxy wars for fur and fossil fuels: Obsessions for resources are the cause and effect of mental, spiritual, physical, economic, and environmental imbalance False Bias #16. Oil Is a Vital Resource, and US Policymakers Are Smart and Psychologically Balanced in Their Pursuit of Fossil Fuels. The night of February 8, 1690, some 200 French troops with their Native[Read More…]
I am in a dilemma about how to address you. We may leave it behind. You all three are quite aware that the world is now going through the most dangerous crisis since the end of World War 11 mainly because of you. A single misstep can ignite apocalyptical consequences. That may lead the planet to the threshold of an[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Six months ago, Russia invaded Ukraine. The United States, NATO and the European Union (EU) wrapped themselves in the Ukrainian flag, shelled out billions for arms shipments, and imposed draconian sanctions intended to severely punish Russia for its aggression. Since then, the people of Ukraine have been paying a price for this war[Read More…]
As soon as I landed in Rome, I discovered that I was no longer able to access any Russian media whatsoever. Unfortunately, threats by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, that Europe should sever all links with “Russia’s propaganda machine” were taken seriously by the Italian government. As a journalist, having access to only one side of the Russia-Ukraine[Read More…]
While Ukraine has received enormous aid from around the world since the Russian invasion began in February, open support for Russia should not be dismissed. On August 24, Ukraine’s independence day, the U.S. provided a $3 billion military aid package to the country. The additional assistance adds to more than $80 billion worth of support that Kyiv has already received between January[Read More…]
Citing anonymous sources CNN claimed on Thursday, U.S. officials helped prepare the Ukrainian military for its counteroffensive against Russian forces in the south of the country. In its article, CNN, one of largest US news organizations, alleged that this assistance included joint “war gaming” analytical exercises designed to help the Ukrainians get a clear picture of how much personnel and[Read More…]
The United Nations helps design a deal to ship foodstuffs blocked in Ukraine ports. The United Nations has some bragging rights in Ukraine after months of criticism it could not stop the disastrous war, devising a deal with Turkey, Ukraine and Russia that could deliver much-needed corn, grain and wheat. The landmark pact was announced on July 22 after two months of talks brokered[Read More…]
The ‘West’ is not just a term, but also a concept that acquires new meanings with time. To its advocates, it can be analogous to civilization and benevolent power; to its detractors, mostly in the ‘East’ and ‘South’, it is associated with colonialism, unhinged violence, and underserved wealth. The current, seismic shifts in world affairs, however – namely, the Russia-Ukraine[Read More…]
Days after the latest major Ukrainian attack on a Russian military base on the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea, the US is seeking to further escalate the war with Russia by providing $775 million in weapons and ammunition for Ukraine’s offensive. Speaking with POLITICO earlier this week, a senior Biden Administration openly endorsed the strikes and encouraged further attacks[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4O. Fossil fuels and rivalry: US policymakers’ addiction to the “Great Game” leads to violence, wastefulness, death, and destruction False Bias #15. US Policymakers Are Mentally Balanced, Spiritually Healthy, Intelligent Individuals Far Removed from Dishonesty, Greed, and the Coveting of Others’ Natural Resources, Who Really Care[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers- Part 4N. US “experts” omit truth about Russia’s actions in Georgia to paint a good vs. evil scenario that ignores ethnic conflict, NATO, and fossil fuels False Bias #14. Russia’s Government and Military Actions Are Motivated by Desires for Conquest, Empire, and Status, But US Government and Military[Read More…]
Citing the Russian Defense Ministry media reports said: Ukraine plans to carry out artillery strikes on the Russia-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Friday, and then accuse Russia of causing a disaster at the site. The predicted attack will be timed to coincide with the ongoing visit to Ukraine by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The Russian ministry said it[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4M. “Experts” who advocate the expansion of NATO and capitalist privatization dismiss Putin’s accusations and instead falsely claim that Putin craves empire and emulates Peter the Great False Bias #13. Putin Does Not Recognize Ukraine’s Borders or Sovereignty and He Longs to Be an Emperor, like[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4J. US “experts” falsely claim that a “pluralistic Ukraine” is supported by the US and opposed by Putin False Bias #10. Putin Feels Threatened by a “Pluralistic Ukraine.” Derek Mitchell, president of the National Democratic Institute, one of the four core institutes of the National Endowment[Read More…]
It is becoming clear that U.S. neoconservatives have succeeded in creating a warmongering, anti-Russian mood in Europe through an unprecedented information war, the consequences of which will take some time to assess. It is, however, possible to identify the signs of what is to come. Losers: We do not yet know who will win this war (or if anyone will win[Read More…]
Ukrainian forces have threatened civilians by setting up bases and operating weapons systems in populated areas, including schools and hospitals, as they battled the Russian intervention that began in February, Amnesty International said in a statement. “Such a tactic violates international humanitarian law and endangers civilians, as it turns civilian objects into military targets. The Russian strikes that followed in[Read More…]
Russia and the West have signaled their intent to commit to a long-term confrontation over Ukraine. While Russia has clearly felt the effect of sanctions, the EU remains vulnerable to Russian attempts to use energy to divide member states. Having declared victory over the “economic blitzkrieg” of Western sanctions in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin must contend with continued Western[Read More…]
Just one bomb releases a slew of toxic heavy metals into Ukraine’s soil and groundwater. Now multiply this by thousands. In the U.S., proponents supporting military expansion and increasing defense spending have prevailed despite the more pressing need to divert all available resources to fight the impending disaster being faced by humanity: climate change. While ignoring the climate disaster, the[Read More…]
The West does not have the stockpiles of weapons needed to sustain a prolonged military campaign in Ukraine or elsewhere, the CEO of one of the Pentagon’s main defense contractors has warned. The military-industrial complex therefore needs a “clear demand signal” from Western governments on what exactly it should produce and whether it will be purchased, Kathy Warden told the[Read More…]
The war in Ukraine is dragging on. Today, the 11th of July 2022 is the 138th day of an armed conflict that began on the 24th of February when Russian president, Vladimir Putin, declared that his country is launching a special military operation in Ukraine. As one should expect, a few thousands have been killed so far on both sides.[Read More…]
Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4L. Without substance or proof, shallow US journalism condemns Putin’s alleged goals False Bias #12. Putin Bemoans the Fall of the Soviet Union Because He Is a Creep Who Loves Power, Status, Gulags, and Empires. In her article in The Atlantic, “Who Is Vladimir Putin’s Revisionist History For?”[Read More…]
Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4K. US “experts” display skills in creative fiction, but they fail in history, research, reading comprehension, and truth False Bias #11: Putin Is a Deluded Man Seeking Empire Whose Interest in History Reveals His Ignorance, Backward Views, and Crazed Longing for a Mythological Past. We’ve been talking about[Read More…]
Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4I. US “experts” falsely claim that a “prosperous, democratic Ukraine” is supported by the US and opposed by Putin False Bias #9. Putin Feels Threatened by a “Prosperous, Democratic Ukraine.” Derek Mitchell is the President of the National Democratic Institute, one of the four core institutes of the[Read More…]
A number of U.S. veterans are reportedly training Ukrainian soldiers near the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, said the New York Times in an article — In Ukraine, U.S. Veterans Step In Where the Military Will Not — on July 3, 2022, Sunday (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/03/us/politics/american-combat-volunteers-ukraine.html). “Americans are in Ukraine,” states the New York Times, noting that the exact number of U.S. citizens[Read More…]
Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4H. To authoritarian US policymakers, those who prefer international law to the US-led unipolar world are dangerous, undemocratic, and aggressive False Bias #8: The Unipolar World Represents Democracy and the Free World, while Putin’s Disapproval of the Unipolar World Reveals His Dislike for Democracy and Freedom. We’ve been[Read More…]
Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4G. Black-and-white thinking and needs for noble purpose bring the domino theory back to life False Bias #7. Putin Is Using Ukraine As a Testing Ground for His War against Democracy. One would imagine that Derek Mitchell, president of the National Democratic Institute, one of the four core[Read More…]
Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers- Part 4F. US experts’ lack of empathy and lack of truthfulness cause them to twist Putin’s motives for military action in Ukraine False Bias #6. Putin Doesn’t Care about Ukrainians’ Lives or Sovereignty. Based on my reading of Putin’s 2007 Munich speech, July 2021 essay, and February 21 and 24,[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers Part 4E. Psychological patterns of US policymakers obstruct the creation of genuine democracy False Bias #5: The US Represents Democracy and the Free World, while Putin’s Russia Seeks to Destroy Democracy. We’ve been discussing how Mental Escalators, specifically US policy and media makers’ dysfunctional, skewed psychological patterns, falsehood,[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers- Part 4D. Who truly stands against corruption? Black-and-white thinking causes US experts to believe falsehood False Bias #4. The US Is Fighting Against Corruption. The previous essay about authoritarianism referred to the 2019 testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee for the Senate Hearing of the National Defense[Read More…]
Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers – Part 4C. Who truly stands against authoritarianism? Black-and-white thinking causes US experts to believe falsehood False Bias #3. The US Is Fighting against Authoritarianism. In his 2019 testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee for the Senate Hearing of the National Defense Strategy, Damon Wilson, President of the National[Read More…]
Part 4. Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers. Part 4B. A competitive, threat-orientation towards international relations: Psychological patterns described by Lakoff, Spranger, and Allport False Bias #2. Life Is Competition; the Goal Is to Beat Adversaries and Stay on Top. Let’s take a look at actual, representative lines from Damon Wilson’s 2019 testimony, two years before[Read More…]
Instances of sympathy are rarely excuses to throw out the rule book. In the case of the European Union, throwing out the rule book about admission has tended to be a feature of enlargement. Credentials of candidate states have been, when needed, boosted or cooked for the occasion. Others, whatever the progress, have been ignored. For a collective that really[Read More…]
Part4 – Mental escalators of violence in US policy and media makers Part 4A. An Introduction to the Frame of Mind of Those Forever Leading US Foreign Policy False Bias #1. We Can Understand and Judge Other People Without Meeting Them, Without Engaging in Cooperative Dialogue, and Without Hearing Their Side of the Story. In these latest group of essays,[Read More…]
Russia’s President Putin, in a speech on February 21, 2022, said: “Modern Ukraine was entirely created by….Communist Russia. The process began immediately after the revolution of 1917.” He then described the state as “Vladimir Ilych Lenin’s Ukraine.” Putin was harking back to the Romanov empire of the past, when Ukraine was under the Tsarist regime. Putin is today keen on [Read More…]
One of the reasons that Russian media has been completely blocked in the West, along with the unprecedented control and censorship over the Ukraine war narrative, is the fact that western governments simply do not want their public to know that the world is vastly changing. Ignorance might be bliss, arguably in some situations, but not in this case.[Read More…]
From his first days in office, Joe Biden and his national security advisers seemed determined to revive America’s fading global leadership via the strategy they knew best — challenging the “revisionist powers” Russia and China with a Cold War-style aggressiveness. When it came to Beijing, the president combined the policy initiatives of his predecessors, pursuing Barack Obama’s “strategic pivot” from[Read More…]
Tens of thousands of workers demonstrated against the rising cost of living, with many linking the crisis to the NATO’s war and Russia policies. Many demonstrators condemned the US-led NATO alliance and its involvement in the Ukraine war. Many linked their dire economic straits to the EU’s sanctions regime on Russia and with the NATO’s rush to arm Ukraine. Protesters[Read More…]
The global mankind witnessing a fearsome and ferocious flow of military actions and reactions causing tragic human causalities that could inundate all norms of morality and civilizations plunging us to timeless darkness. Do the leaders know what they are doing or are they all delusional by Nature? When We, the People of knowledge speak truthfully of the creation of human[Read More…]
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday stressed that the public needs to keep up its support of Ukraine after nearly four months of war. Media reports said: “The worry that we have is that a bit of Ukraine-fatigue is starting to set in around the world,” Johnson told reporters on the back of a trip to Kyiv. “It is[Read More…]
by Noam Chomsky and David Barsamian David Barsamian: Let’s head into the most obvious nightmare of this moment, the war in Ukraine and its effects globally. But first a little background. Let’s start with President George H.W. Bush’s assurance to then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not move “one inch to the east” — and that pledge has been[Read More…]
Ukraine’s allies are in disagreement on the question of the war. On June 14, a New York Times report — A Link to Besieged Ukrainians Is Cut, as Allies Question Strategy — said: “The last bridge to the city of Sievierodonetsk fell as battles raged, and some Western officials questioned Ukraine’s ability to keep resisting Russia.” The report said: “Ukraine’s[Read More…]
The United Nations Global Crisis Response Group warned in a report Wednesday that the ripple effects of the US-NATO conflict with Russia over Ukraine could exacerbate the human suffering of millions around the globe by escalating food and energy prices amid a worsening “global cost-of-living crisis unseen in at least a generation.” According to the report, the war has the potential to[Read More…]
Momentum in the Ukraine War has begun favoring Russia, and as a clear signal, the NATO Secretary-General has told Ukraine to decide how much territory it likes to concede in exchange of peace. A New York Times report — “Momentum in Ukraine Is Shifting in Russia’s Favor” (June 11, 2022) — said: Ukraine lacking the weaponry it needs, and Western[Read More…]
Cases of desertion are growing among Ukrainian force, which is suffering significant losses, says report. It is also almost out of ammunition. Media reports said: There has been a rise in desertion as morale declines, says an intelligence report seen by The Independent. Ukraine is now dependent on Western donations of supplies, Ukrainian officials say. Reports are emerging that the[Read More…]
Ukraine acknowledges that it is losing artillery war to Russia. Ukraine forces are almost out of ammunition and can only rely on Western-supplied arms in the battle against Russia, a top Ukrainian intelligence official has said. “This is an artillery war now,” Vadim Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, told The Guardian on Friday. Ranged combat is going to[Read More…]
The U.S. government has better information on Russian troops in Ukraine than on Ukrainian forces, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. officials. Kiev is keeping its biggest military sponsor in the dark, possibly even misleading Washington to protect the generous flow of American military aid into the country, the newspaper claimed in a report (U.S. Lacks a[Read More…]
Ukraine needs liquefied natural gas (LNG). The country is in discussions with the U.S. on purchasing and financing supplies of LNG instead of pipeline gas, which the country currently receives from EU states, Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko said on Tuesday. Media reports said: Kiev is currently buying reverse gas supplies that those countries resell, after buying from Russia. The head of[Read More…]
Ukraine President Zelensky appealed for more weapons to arrive faster, saying things could become very difficult for Ukraine if Russian forces broke through front lines in Donbas, the eastern region where Severodonetsk is the main city not in Russian hands. Media reports said: Britain has promised to send its first long-range missiles to Ukraine after a similar U.S. pledge which triggered Vladimir Putin[Read More…]
Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called out U.S. President Joe Biden in two campaign speeches this week, citing the $40 billion in military aid Washington has pledged to Ukraine. “Biden, who has never made a speech to give $1 to those who are starving in Africa, announces $40 billion to help Ukraine buy weapons,” Lula said on Wednesday[Read More…]
US President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that Washington will deliver advanced longer-range missile systems HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) to the Ukrainian army, as part of yet another $700 million in military aid that the White House announced on May 31. This latest tranche brings the total direct military aid committed by the Biden administration since the beginning[Read More…]
Europe lurched closer to an energy crisis on Tuesday after the Kremlin cut off gas supplies to major buyers including Shell. A Telegraph report said: Russia’s state-owned gas supplier, Gazprom, said supplies to Shell in Germany as well as to Ørsted in Denmark will be cut off on Wednesday after they refused to bow to Putin’s demands to pay in roubles. Gazprom[Read More…]
The war in Ukraine is increasing food prices, which is increasing hunger in Africa. An AP report from Mogadishu, Somalia cited Ayan Hassan Abdirahman, who is now paying twice as much as she did just a few months ago to buy the wheat flour she uses to make breakfast each day for her 11 children in Somalia’s capital. Abdirahman has[Read More…]
There is a persistent belief in both Europe and the United States that the “Western” economies are the most developed around, just as the “Western” culture and democracy, with its culture of abolition and total tolerance, is the only correct and advanced system. Russia, which is a bridge connecting Europe with Asia since Tsar Peter, has apparently chosen the European[Read More…]
Ukraine conflict has now entered in the area of intensive diplomacy. Davos, now the seat of the World Economic Forum (WEF), is rich with Ukraine debate. Media reports said: Veteran U.S. statesman Henry Kissinger has urged the West to stop trying to inflict a crushing defeat on Russian forces in Ukraine, warning that it would have disastrous consequences for the[Read More…]
The war in Ukraine has already caused massive death and destruction, with more undoubtedly to come as the fighting intensifies in the country’s east and south. Many thousands of soldiers and civilians have already been killed or wounded, some 13 million Ukrainians have been forced from their homes, and an estimated one-third of the country’s infrastructure has been destroyed. Worse yet, that war’s brutal[Read More…]
Ukraine is not Afghanistan. Ukraine-crisis is, however, likely to be prolonged with a similar objective responsible for Afghanistan-war lasting for years. Geographically, culturally, historically and at numerous other levels, there is no comparison between Afghanistan-wars fought at different periods by United States as well as former Soviet Union and the ongoing Ukraine-war. The only similarity is that people have suffered[Read More…]
Wheat prices surged to a new record high on Monday after India decided to prohibit exports of the commodity as a heatwave hit production. The price climbed to $453 per ton as the European market opened. Soft red winter wheat for July delivery rose 4.2%. Media reports said: India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, said this weekend it was curbing[Read More…]
The Empire is currently fighting a war – a partly-proxy and partly direct war – in Ukraine. The war between capitalist interests whether identified as ‘bipartisan unity’ in a country or ‘oligarchs’, is basically with the same bourgeois interests. Ukraine, once a part of the Soviet Union, is now controlled by the US and Western European interests. While the hopes[Read More…]
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke over telephone on Friday, marking the first call between the two since Russia launched the special military operation in Ukraine. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a brief statement following the call that Austin “urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining lines[Read More…]
Part II. The Roots of violence: Needs for life and safety In the Paradigm for Peace model, the Roots of Violence are divided into seven categories. While a few of the categories aren’t as easily divided into defensive and aggressive motivations, for the most part, we examine how each party to the conflict may be defensively motivated or aggressively[Read More…]
The Russia-Ukraine war has quickly turned into a global conflict. One of the likely outcomes of this war is the very redefinition of the current world order, which has been in effect, at least since the collapse of the Soviet Union over three decades ago. Indeed, there is a growing sense that a new global agenda is forthcoming, one that[Read More…]
The House of Representatives May 10 approved $40 billion of aid to Ukraine 368-57. All Democratic representatives voted yes. Previously antiwar Democrats like Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Jim McGovern, Barbara Lee, and Pramila Jayapal, who should know better, have uncritically embraced the Administration’s escalating war against Russia to the tune of $40 billion. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must be condemned. But the[Read More…]
PART 1. INTRODUCTION US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated that Western nations will continue “moving Heaven and Earth” to send weapons to Ukraine in its war against Russia.[1] While they may be moving Earth, it’s doubtful they’re moving Heaven, which could very well be enraged at US policymakers’ habit of seizing for itself divine powers to inflict massive amounts of[Read More…]
The Ukraine War is today’s most important geostrategic issue. Along with capital flow/investment, trade and profit, it’s impacting the global dominance map. At the end of the war, significant changes in geopolitics will appear. Different parts of world capital are behaving/moving in different ways; and a few parts are interacting with, pushing/pulling each other, at times, in antithetical ways. This[Read More…]
“Ukrainians,” in the words of Ben Wallace, the British Defense Secretary, “are fighting for their very lives and they are fighting for our freedoms.” “Ukraine’s success,” the White House stated, “is central to the global struggle between democracy and autocracy.” The Russian invasion of Ukraine was “unprovoked” and proves that Putin is intent on brutally reconstructing the Russian empire. That[Read More…]
German officials are quietly preparing for any sudden halt in Russian gas supplies with an emergency package that could include taking control of critical firms. An exclusive Reuters report said: The preparations being led by the Ministry for Economic Affairs show the heightened state of alert about supplies of the gas that powers Europe’s biggest economy and is critical for[Read More…]
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a statement on Friday supporting the secretary-general’s efforts to search for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine, in the first such display of unity since February 24. The entire meeting on Friday lasted only about a minute. Russia’s support for the statement, drafted by Mexico and Norway, shows Moscow’s readiness for diplomacy,[Read More…]
The deepening current Ukraine Crisis is properly linked to the Russian aggression that commenced with a massive military attack against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and has continued to ravage the country since, including inducing a refugee flow numbering several million. There is a broad consensus around the world that such aggression is a criminal violation of international law, and[Read More…]
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier admitted that attempts to build the Common European Home failed. He made this statement at a press conference after the talks with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest. The press conference was livestreamed on Iohannis’ website. Media reports said: The German President said: “We all supported the great concept, proposed by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s[Read More…]
The North Atlantic media is entangled in an unprecedented information war. It is characterized by a relentless erosion of the distinction between facts and the manipulation of emotions and perceptions, between conjectures and unassailable truths. I saw this kind of information war in the United States firsthand during the last years of the war on Vietnam and in the lead-up[Read More…]
The paralyzing fear and distrust emerging from the horrors of war in Ukraine must make us conscious to record the truth of global leadership failure and truth must be written in the annals of history that we all failed to stop the tyranny of war by the people against the people and that we had no idea how we continued[Read More…]
Why the Conflict in Ukraine Is a Disaster for the Poor of This Planet In 1919, the renowned British economist John Maynard Keynes wrote The Economic Consequences of the Peace, a book that would prove controversial indeed. In it, he warned that the draconian terms imposed on defeated Germany after what was then known as the Great War — which we[Read More…]
When the US became involved in both world wars in the 20th century, all sides knew the outcome would be in favor of US allies. However, they had no idea of the length nor could they guess that the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1919 would be the first long-term cause of WWII, any more than anyone could[Read More…]
While international news headlines remain largely focused on the war in Ukraine, little attention is given to the horrific consequences of the war which are felt in many regions around the world. Even when these repercussions are discussed, disproportionate coverage is allocated to European countries, like Germany and Austria, due to their heavy reliance on Russian energy sources. The horrific[Read More…]
It has become increasingly clear to the world that there is not one, but two, actually three, distinct levels of conflict embedded in what the world’s media and political leadership deceptively insist of calling the ‘Ukraine War.’ The first level was clearly initiated on February 24, 2022 when Russia launched an aggressive war against Ukraine imperiling its sovereign rights and[Read More…]
Last month our park system sponsored a lecture by a renowned ornithologist, describing the international attention our part of the Lake Erie shoreline gets during spring bird migration. One thing he explained was that large birds like ducks and eagles travel typically by day, navigating by land features, whereas songbirds and warblers fly at night and navigate off the stars.[Read More…]
On April 21st, President Biden announced new shipments of weapons to Ukraine, at a cost of $800 million to U.S. taxpayers. On April 25th, Secretaries Blinken and Austin announced over $300 million more military aid. The United States has now spent $3.7 billion on weapons for Ukraine since the Russian invasion, bringing total U.S. military aid to Ukraine since 2014[Read More…]
The euro plummeted to a five-year low against the US dollar during Wednesday’s trading, amid heightened fears of a possible energy crisis and an economic slowdown in Europe. Media reports from Europe said: As of 11:01am GMT, the euro/dollar exchange rate was down to $1.061 from the previous closing level of $1.0636. Earlier in the day’s trading, the index fell[Read More…]
With Russian shells raining down on Ukrainian cities, an uneasy ceasefire in Yemen, the attack on Palestinians at prayer in Jerusalem and many other conflicts around the world, it might seem to some to be inappropriate to talk about peace. When a war is going on, though, it is absolutely the time to talk about peace. How else can we[Read More…]
PART ONE SOMETHING FUNDAMENTAL IN HUMANS DRIVES UKRAINIAN WAR FORWARD If World War III’s Nuclear holocaust begins in Ukraine it will because of the same madness caused by the same hatred, greed, hypocrisy and fascism driven by the same oligarch’s, plutocrat’s and militarists in the same empires of both the west and the east, who, especially in the past one[Read More…]
Face it, we’re living in a world that, while anything but exceptional, is increasingly the exception to every rule. Only the other day, 93-year-old Noam Chomsky had something to say about that. Mind you, he’s seen a bit of our world since, in 1939, he wrote his first article for his elementary school newspaper on the fall of the Spanish[Read More…]
After the 2014 coup and eight years of fighting between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists, history has once again exploded and returned to the stage in Ukraine. As Westerners with governments who act blatantly hostile and belligerent to Russia, we should ask: was Russia provoked, and if so, how? It is important to question how and why this conflict[Read More…]
There are some fascinating similarities between the Crimean War of the 1850s and the Ukraine War of 2022. According to Norman Rich, author of “The Crimean War” its main purpose was the containment of an expanding Russia as European powers had become fearful of Russia’s extension of power under Tsarist rule. One of the questions Rich addressed was why peace[Read More…]
An Alert and Warning! NATO Secretary-general calls for “transformation” of NATO into a fighting force against Russia and China Noam Chomsky, 93, issues warning: ‘We’re approaching the most dangerous point in human history’ Let people throughout the world speak out now and organize against the posturing for, and promotion of a world war that could easily become a nuclear war that[Read More…]
Sometimes a few words are worth a thousand pictures – at least when it comes to Ukraine. Here’s one of them: The Ukrainian leader said that his country hadn’t been willing to cede territory from the beginning. “Had we been willing to give up our territory, there would have been no war,” Zelensky said. So the question recurs. Why is it[Read More…]
by Roger McKenzie and Vijay Prashad War is an ugly part of the human experience. Everything about it is hideous. War is most obviously the act of invasion and the brutality that goes along with its operations. No war is precise; every war hurts civilians. Each act of bombardment sends a neurological shudder through a society. World War II demonstrated[Read More…]
The Ukraine War is one of the most significant and sad events of our times. In the middle of several conflicting claims and counter claims, 11 facts regarding this war stand out as the most crucial With thousands dead and over four million displaced within a few weeks, this war has very high humanitarian costs. With each passing day the[Read More…]
Tyranny did not Pause even on the Easter Decades earlier recall what the US-Britain and NATO did in Iraq even on the Xmas Eve. Layla Anwar (“Come and see our overflowing morgues…..come and see the rubble of your surgical strikes”: An Arab Women Blues wrote in her website blog: “Everyday, under the pretext of either al-Qaida, insurgents, militants or whatever[Read More…]
Western Diplomats and Experts Have Been Warning About US and NATO policies Escalating Ukraine Crisis Much before the Ukraine war this year, several internationally renowned foreign policy experts, including retired senior officials and other persons close to the establishment in the USA and its western allies, have been warning that a policy of excessive hostility towards Russia, persistent interference in[Read More…]
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US was unrivaled as a superpower. During the 1990s and, until about 2012, the US was relatively unconstrained in its use of military power in an attempt to get its way. However, often the use of military power was counterproductive. More importantly, the US frequently violated international law through its military interventions[Read More…]
When Trump left office, he had a personal low public opinion poll of 34% amid the January 6th quasi-coup attempt, whereas Biden in a middle of an enemy that most Americans love to hate, and have done for more than century, has approval rating 1% lower than Trump when the latter left office in January 2020. The question is why[Read More…]
One of the more serious allegations to emerge out of the Ukraine-Russian conflict is that the U.S. was cooperating with the Ukraine to develop biological weapons. While the evidence is circumstantial and strongly denied by the U.S. government, there is reason for concern and for optimism. Russian sources have claimed that there are US-funded biolabs in Ukraine that may be[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies Americans have been shocked by the death and destruction of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, filling our screens with bombed buildings and dead bodies lying in the street. But the United States and its allies have waged war in country after country for decades, carving swathes of destruction through cities, towns and villages[Read More…]
Finland and Sweden are set to join NATO as early as this summer, extending the organization’s borders alongside Russia by hundreds of miles, U.S. officials told the British newspaper the Times. Finland is expected to submit its application for membership in June, with Sweden to follow. During talks among the organization’s 30 member nations last week, U.S. officials said that NATO membership[Read More…]
The Script: Evil Persecutor, Innocent Victim, Rescuing Hero Brzezinski’s Baiting of the USSR Cold War Truth and Propaganda Russian Fears US Greed and Biases of the Policymaker Breed Shallow Analysis Double Standards Consequences of Believing the Script Compassion for Ukrainians victimized by Russia’s violence demonstrates that human hearts care. However, beneath the visible current of compassion there’s an alarming, dangerous[Read More…]
There is no doubt that atrocities have been committed in Ukraine, seemingly by Russian attacking forces, and in a perfect world those who so acted would be held responsible. But the world is highly imperfect when it comes to accountability for international crimes. When the International Criminal Court in 2020 found it had authority to investigate alleged crimes committed by Israel[Read More…]
As each day of war increases sufferings of people of Ukraine and creates new possibilities of escalation of wider conflict, the first priority, the overwhelming priority should be to end the war as early as possible and secure immediate peace. However several forces and leaders which are in the forefront of the debate on this highly regrettable invasion do not[Read More…]
An immediate ban on imports of Russian oil and gas into Germany is not feasible, Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Wednesday, although he added he was all in favor of an energy embargo. “If I could follow my heart,” there would be a ban on Russian oil and gas in Germany, Lindner said in an interview published by German weekly[Read More…]
A Historical Feast of Death and Destruction from the Peloponnesian Wars to Late Tomorrow Night Excuse me if I wander a little today — and if it bothers you, don’t blame me, blame Vladimir Putin. After all, I didn’t decide to invade Ukraine, the place my grandfather fled almost 140 years ago. I suspect, in fact, that I was an[Read More…]
The Ukraine conflict will have “enormous economic repercussions in Ukraine and beyond.” This was warned by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a House panel Wednesday. She added that the rising price of energy, metal, wheat and corn that Russia and Ukraine produce “is going to escalate inflationary pressures as well.” An AP report — Yellen: Russia’s invasion will have[Read More…]
(The Corona war) revealed many things, first and foremost of the greed of Western countries, especially with regard to providing vaccines for poor countries in the third world. It also revealed that globalization which said to have made the world a small village has become questionable issue. The borders of countries were closed and each country had to rely on[Read More…]
When a gruesome six-minute video of Ukrainian soldiers shooting and torturing handcuffed and tied up Russian soldiers circulated online, outraged people on social media and elsewhere compared this barbaric behavior to that of Daesh. In a rare admission of moral responsibility, Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian President, quickly reminded Ukrainian fighters of their responsibility under international law. “I[Read More…]
Major countries in Europe are now engaged with expulsion of diplomats. The move was initiated by NATO-camp countries. Russia has warned of’ symmetrical’ response to Western countries’ expulsion of Russian diplomats A Reuters report said: ‘Russia will respond proportionately to the expulsion of its diplomats from a number of Western countries, Russian ex-president and deputy head of Security Council Dmitry[Read More…]
Much has been said and written about media bias and double standards in the West’s response to the Russia-Ukraine war, when compared with other wars and military conflicts across the world, especially in the Middle East and the Global South. Less obvious is how such hypocrisy is a reflection of a much larger phenomenon which governs the West’s relationship to[Read More…]
Chinese leaders have brushed back pressure from the EU to take an anti-Russia stance in the Ukraine conflict, warning that cooperation between Beijing and Brussels is needed to prevent long-term damage to the global economy. Speaking by videoconference on Friday in a summit meeting with EU leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly said it could take years or even decades[Read More…]
There is a growing psychosis sweeping the U.S. around the Russian bombardment of Ukraine, and it is being triggered by the legacy news media. The steady stream of biased, often erroneous or incomplete information spewing from the establishment press is leading people to quickly choose sides in a complicated international conflict, waving flags in support of “their side,” fawning over global leaders, and[Read More…]
The West’s actions against Russia since the war in Ukraine could signal an emerging new order that shuns the U.S. for weaponizing the dollar and Western control over the global financial system. Do the Ukraine war and the action of the United States, the EU and the UK spell the end of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency? Even with the[Read More…]
Using the pretext of Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has banned several political parties and undermined labour and trade union rights. Ukrainian socialist group Sotsyalnyi Rukh (Social Movement) criticised the actions as undemocratic and warned they risk undermining popular resistance to the invasion. Zelensky “temporarily suspended the activities” of 11 parties with alleged links to Russia on March 19.[Read More…]
The Kremlin indicated on Wednesday that all of Russia’s energy and commodity exports could be priced in roubles, toughening President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to make the West feel the pain of the sanctions it imposed for the invasion of Ukraine. In the strongest signal yet that Russia could be preparing an even tougher response to the West’s sanctions, Russia’s top[Read More…]
For the world’s vulnerable populations already reeling from one of the worst economic shocks and an unprecedented hunger and livelihoods crisis resulting from the Covid-19 lockdowns, Russia’s war in Ukraine poses an existential threat. In this two part series researcher Sajai Jose looks at the way food production across the globe is set to fall due to supply chain disruptions[Read More…]
Introduction Symptomatic of the intensification of the US-led Cold War in the first two decades of the 21st century, the Russian war in Ukraine was a point of contention for military integration of former Soviet republics by the US and its Western European allies which welcomed and encouraged the conflict in 2022 in part to test the Atlantic Alliance’s solidarity[Read More…]
For the world’s vulnerable populations already reeling from one of the worst economic shocks and an unprecedented hunger and livelihoods crisis resulting from the Covid-19 lockdowns, Russia’s war in Ukraine poses an existential threat. In this two part series researcher Sajai Jose looks at the way food production across the globe is set to fall due to supply chain[Read More…]
Citing Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who leads the Russian delegation to the talks with Ukraine, an Istanbul, March 29 datelined media report said: Russia has suggested a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, be organized concurrently with the initialing of a bilateral treaty by the two countries’ foreign ministers. “After today’s meaningful conversation, we[Read More…]
The “Unwinnable War” Last week, the UN secretary-general António Guterres said that the Ukraine war is “….unwinnable” and this is true but sadly, there seems to be no letup in the war, not yet. In the meantime, Russia’s relentless bombing has reduced Ukraine into a pile of rubbles and turned Ukraine into a non-functioning state! On the other hand, Russia’s[Read More…]
Despite being voiced aggressively, “Ukraine-Diplomacy” exercised by the so-called friends of this country has so far shown virtually no sign of ending sufferings of Ukrainians and of Ukraine-crisis. This certainly demands deliberation on nature of “diplomacy” at play and its apparent failure. True, innocent citizens must not suffer at the cost of what major powers desire. Violence of any nature[Read More…]
What do a six-year-old in the United States and an 85-year-old in Russia have in common besides being on opposite sides of a war? They’re both feeling the strain of a warming planet. “Is the earth going to get so hot that we can’t survive?” my young son asked me last summer as we plodded through the woods behind our[Read More…]
The shifting world order is a more realistic prospect after the Russian invasion of Ukraine than in the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008 which destabilized the neoliberal globalization model and weakened the US as the unipolar hegemonic power. Although the convergence of long-term structural decline in the US as a core economy and simultaneous Chinese ascendancy has been[Read More…]
The war in Ukraine has placed U.S. and NATO policy toward Russia under a spotlight, highlighting how the United States and its allies have expanded NATO right up to Russia’s borders, backed a coup and now a proxy war in Ukraine, imposed waves of economic sanctions, and launched a debilitating trillion-dollar arms race. The explicit goal is to pressure, weaken[Read More…]
A representative of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described signatories to the Budapest Memorandum as a reason Ukraine is at war, citing their failure to hold up their end of the agreement. “They signed their obligation to protect Ukraine, to provide the security and safety,” Fedir Venislavsky, President Zelenskyy’s representative to Ukraine’s Constitutional Court, told Fox News. “Which means when Ukraine[Read More…]
Israel’s balancing act in the Russia-Ukraine war is likely to falter soon, simply because the resulting NATO-Russia conflict is expected to last for years, not weeks or months. Eventually, Israel would have to make a choice. Alas, whatever that choice may be, Israel will stand to lose. From the first day of the war, Israel somehow became involved. Top Israeli[Read More…]
With a month long conflict between Russia and Ukraine, several theses have been proposed by authors, experts and scholars. Here, Dmitry Kochegurov presents four different ones adding to the ongoing discussions. Position №1. «Calm era of stability» The 2000s – early 2010s without exaggeration will be remembered by Russian Millennials as one of the most economically successful and attractive periods[Read More…]
Since Russia carried out its brutal, unjust invasion of Ukraine, environmental writer and activist Bill McKibben has been pumping out rationales in op-ed pieces and media appearances for supporting the U.S. and its West European allies as they ramp up military assistance to Ukraine and their economic warfare and military preparations against Russia, in the name of going green –[Read More…]
NATOstan: she’s looking at YOU. A Roma untermensch packaged by Ukrainian “democracy”. The above picture and text is from a tweet by Pepe Escobar. Is this what you are supporting? That’s great. I am not. I have never been to the territory of the Russian Federation nor of Ukraine; but; I don’t need to; because there is no way I[Read More…]
At a time when the Russian invasion of Ukraine has faced a lot of well-justified criticism, a different yet related question also needs to be raised. Would Ukraine have become such a serious crisis point if the USA had sincerely adopted a policy of peace towards Russia during the last 35 years or so? Revisit Russia of three decades back.[Read More…]
The Western world rightly deplores the war criminal Russian invasion of Ukraine but simultaneously ignores the horrendous impact of (a) bloody US invasions of 52 countries since WW2, and (b) the US application of deadly sanctions against numerous countries. The most shocking victims today of this US-imposed mass murder are starving Afghanistan and starving Yemen, but the Developing World faces[Read More…]
On March 16, 2022, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev delivered his State of the Nation address in Nur-Sultan. Most of Tokayev’s speech was about the political reforms in Kazakhstan he had either accomplished or planned to advance, after he had promised them as redress to January’s political unrest and protests against the Kazakh government. He also addressed the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on Kazakhstan during his[Read More…]
A Reuters report said: The Biden administration, seeking to deter China from aiding sanctions-hit Russia, on Wednesday warned Beijing not to take advantage of business opportunities created by sanctions, help Moscow evade export controls or process its banned financial transactions. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that G7 countries would soon announce a unified response to make[Read More…]
Around 2000 years ago Seneca the Younger said: “We are mad not only individually but nationally. We check manslaughter and isolated murders, but what of war and the much vaunted crime of slaughtering whole peoples?” In 1880, General William Tecumseh Sherman said: “There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but boys, it is[Read More…]
War is never inevitable, despite what the masters of war say. But what is inevitable are the relentless propaganda, censorship and disinformation disseminated by the mainstream media, politicians and pundits in the ongoing coverage of the war in Ukraine. In the last few months, the corporate-owned MSM and social networks have been working overtime to spread Cold War propaganda against[Read More…]
While Russia’s original and shifting objectives in Ukraine remain unclear, the Kremlin is increasingly wary of a publicized, drawn-out conflict. A potential intervention by its military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), could give Russia a diplomatic victory and an acceptable path to de-escalating its campaign if it can leverage its influence over member states effectively. Russia’s attempts to[Read More…]
On March 21, 2022, Gilbert Achcar – a Professor at SOAS University of London – published a note on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, openly wishing for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) victory. He enthusiastically expressed his support for Western arms deliveries to Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia, which not only impact the well-being of the Russian people by blocking[Read More…]
A Washington Post report (As allies meet, splits emerge in NATO about how to deter Russia) said: As President Biden landed in Brussels on Wednesday splits were emerging within NATO and in Washington about how to deter the Kremlin from further escalation. Allied leaders are discussing whether it is best to keep Russia guessing about what will trigger a bigger[Read More…]
On 28 February 2022 former US government official John B. Bellinger III wrote an article for the US Council on Foreign Relations entitled “How Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Violates International Law” (published online at https://www.cfr.org/article/how-russias-invasion-ukraine-violates-international-law). While John B. Bellinger III is correct to declare that Russia’s use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine is prima[Read More…]
Pointing fingers won’t help—an attitude shift is what the world needs now. The old long war in Afghanistan has barely ended and already there is a new one, this time in Europe. Most governments, the media, and the United Nations General Assembly reached a consensus quickly: the contemptible aggressor is Vladimir Putin. Public opinion strongly supports Ukraine. Large demonstrations form[Read More…]
Witness to Killing and Destruction – Ukraine fast becoming the Epic Centre of Cataclysm Cynicism about politics is endemic across all cultures. When intelligent people think and plan war, it negates the very human nature of reasoned mind at peace within its own consciousness and balanced tranquility. The earth trembles with continuous shelling and bombing, sirens sound alarms of coming[Read More…]
The cultural vandals and iconoclasts have been busy of late, removing Russians from the stables at short notice and demanding what might be called a necessary affirmation of disloyalty. It’s all good to talk about world peace and the resolution of disputes, but that will hardly do for the flag bearing choirs who have discovered their object of evil. Do[Read More…]
Vietnam and Malaysia did not support the anti-Russian sanctions and agreed to remain neutral towards the Ukraine crisis, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters Tuesday after his visit to Hanoi. “We discussed the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and agreed that Malaysia and Vietnam will remain neutral on this issue,” he said according to the Bernama news agency. “As for sanctions[Read More…]
by William D. Hartung, Taylor Giorno and Nick Cleveland-Stout A growing chorus of pundits and policymakers has suggested that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine marks the beginning of a new Cold War. If so, that means trillions of additional dollars for the Pentagon in the years to come coupled with a more aggressive military posture in every corner of the world. Before this country succumbs to calls for[Read More…]
Movies and books have often portrayed World War III as either the final chapter of the human epoch or as a new but primitive restart for those who survive the nuclear conflagration. We cannot know if such prophesies will ultimately come true. For now World War III appears to have started with Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but without nuclear missiles[Read More…]
In a good number of Western states, the ruling classes, former and current, have lost their heads. Bugbear and boogieman Vladimir Putin’s efforts in Ukraine have lent themselves to some rather extreme suggestions, ranging from assassination to potential war crimes trials. This is not to say that the Russian leader has nothing to account for. As ever, it all depends[Read More…]
The war in Ukraine has delivered a shock to global energy markets. Now the planet is facing a deeper crisis: a shortage of food. A New York Times report (March 20, 2022) on global food crisis due to the Ukraine war said: ‘A crucial portion of the world’s wheat, corn and barley is trapped in Russia and Ukraine because of the[Read More…]
To watch Japanese television news, including numerous news specials, is to be reminded morning, noon and night of the war in the Ukraine and the suffering of the Ukrainian people. Needless to say, there is nothing wrong with this inasmuch as the suffering, death and destruction caused by the war is all too real and ought to be of concern[Read More…]
Car-free Sundays in cities, working from home up to three days a week and using cost-efficient public transport – are just some of the recommendations made by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to the world. The 10-point action plan aims at cutting back on oil consumption “in the face of the emerging global energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of[Read More…]
During 2011, NATO bombed a path to Tripoli to help its proxy forces on the ground oust Gaddafi. Tens of thousands lost their lives and much of Libya’s social fabric and infrastructure lay in ruins. The 2016 article appearing in Foreign Policy Journal ‘Hillary Emails Reveal True Motive for Libyan Intervention’ exposed why Libya was targeted. Gaddafi was murdered and his plans[Read More…]
Ukraine scene is confusing the West. Today’s Washington Post main headline said: Zelensky’s end game a mystery to the West Mixed signals about the status of a peace deal have heightened anxiety about the trajectory of the talks The Washington Post report said: ‘“There are people in Ukraine who say ‘we don’t want to hear about talks, we want to[Read More…]
Three weeks into the Ukraine war, all of the sides involved are taking ever greater risks. The hitherto unthinkable, a nuclear exchange in Europe, is being openly considered and built up as a threat. Voices of caution, restraint and appeals to reason have largely fallen silent. Despite the looming catastrophe, NATO is not prepared to compromise. In a televised speech[Read More…]
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday blamed NATO for the war in Ukraine and said he would resist calls to condemn Russia, in comments that cast doubt over whether he would be accepted by Ukraine or the West as a mediator. “The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and[Read More…]
I read and re-read Michael Gove’s official letter to civil society on Ukraine’s humanitarian crisis, detailing several facets of “Homes for Ukraine.” I’ve been hoping for a system that will eliminate contracts with profit-making organisations that currently house asylum seekers. I argue for a system that empowers communities, individuals, and non-profit organisations to take a more active role in the[Read More…]
Ukraine conflict is changing many issues around the world including NATO’s force stance in Europe. An AP report said: On Wednesday, lamenting Russia’s “brutal invasion” of Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Europe’s biggest land war in decades will “change our security environment” and will have “long-lasting consequences for our security, and for all NATO allies.” In talks at[Read More…]
As the Russian military’s aggression against Ukraine remains bogged down in the face of Ukrainian resistance and poor logistics, attention has turned to the invasion’s greater effects on the global economy. Given that global supply chains are still sluggish and with the specter of further COVID variants already haunting world trade, the war in Ukraine has[Read More…]
On Monday, 14 March, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of a “hurricane of hunger and a meltdown of the global food system” in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine. Guterres said: “Food, fuel and fertilizer prices are skyrocketing. Supply chains are being disrupted. And the costs and delays of transportation of imported goods – when available – are at[Read More…]
Wars disturb and delude. The Ukraine conflict is no exception. Misinformation is cantering through press accounts and media dispatches with feverish spread. Fear that a nuclear option might be deployed makes teeth chatter. And the Russian President Vladimir Putin is being treated as a Botox Hitler-incarnate, a figure worthy of assassination. The idea of forcing Putin into the grave certainly[Read More…]
The ongoing Ukraine conflict got extra look with a mayor in Ukraine, who appeared heroic. Later, it was found that the mayor was ultranationalist. A Yahoo report (Ukrainian mayor, heralded by many, is ultranationalist, by Ben Adler, Senior Editor, Tue, March 15, 2022, 10:18 PM, https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukrainian-mayor-heralded-by-many-is-ultranationalist-161819300.html) said: ‘It was an especially inspiring story of Ukrainian bravery, in a war replete[Read More…]
The conflict in Ukraine is multi-faceted and not a black and white clash. For example, it can be a conflict between the brothers or a kind of civil war because of the two peoples’ interaction with each other throughout history. Without ignoring that a significant part of the Ukrainian people, especially in western Ukraine, have negative feelings towards Russia, something,[Read More…]
No doubt, the first casualty of war is Truth. And the main task of killing the truth is carried out by propaganda warriors. The rulers, with the assistance of “Goebbels”, give orders, which in the practical fields are implemented by the media. Nowadays, social media are playing an ever-increasing role. Who can deny that in propaganda affairs the West is[Read More…]
In certain quarters in this country, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has generated enthusiasm for a new cold war. At the New York Times, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin have been described as “children of the [old] Cold War” now involved in a “face off,” an “eyeball to eyeball” confrontation harkening back to John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev contesting Berlin and Cuba in[Read More…]
During the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Turkey, which took place from March 11 to March 13, 2022, the Kyrgyz Republic’s Foreign Minister Ruslan Kazakbaev told Helga Maria Schmid, the secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), that his country would be happy to host Russian-Ukrainian talks and serve as the “mediator for re-establishment of peace and mutual understanding” between[Read More…]
The United Nations chief warned Monday that the war in Ukraine is holding “a sword of Damocles” over the global economy, especially poor developing countries that face skyrocketing food, fuel and fertilizer prices and are now seeing their breadbasket “being bombed.” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that “Russia and Ukraine represent more than half of the world’s supply of sunflower[Read More…]
The Kyiv Independent reports on Monday, 14 March, that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy proposes meeting President Putin in Jerusalem. This is what Mr. Zelenskyy told foreign journalists on March 12. He had suggested to Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, to act as intermediary. See this https://kyivindependent.com/uncategorized/zelensky-proposes-meeting-putin-in-jerusalem/ At the time of this writing no date has been set for the Putin –[Read More…]
Anti-war protests are continuing in Russia, despite aggressive police repression and a battery of new laws criminalizing opposition to the war in Ukraine. According to the Russian-language human rights project OVD-Info, which receives funding from the European Commission, 668 people had been detained in 36 cities as of the end of the day yesterday. The previous weekend saw around 10 times as many[Read More…]
Информация взята с портала «Научная Россия» (https://scientificrussia.ru/) We, members of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, appeal to scientists from Russia and all over the world. The long-term confrontation in Ukraine, accompanied by the death and deprivation of civilians, has grown into an acute military conflict. We consider it extremely important through the negotiation process to achieve a[Read More…]
We are all losers in this conflict. It didn’t have to come to this. If leaders and policymakers had shown some wisdom and understanding over the last few decades, things never would have reached this point. In fairness, a few of them did, only to be overridden by the short-sighted, the greedy, the arrogant, the ignorant, the power-hungry and the[Read More…]
Russian forces on Sunday bombed a Ukrainian military facility located just 22 miles from the border of NATO member Poland, killing at least 35 people and injuring dozens more. Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the facility hosted NATO drills and U.S. troops used it to train Ukrainian forces on the deployment of anti-tank missiles and other weaponry. The base has been described as “a vital link in[Read More…]
Seedy, compromised and creepy, the surveillance machine of Facebook, now operating under the broader fold of its parent company Meta Platforms, is currently giving out the very signals that it was condemned for doing before: encourage discussions on hating a group and certain figures, while spreading the bad word to everyone else to do so. The Russian Federation, President Vladimir[Read More…]
The Ukrainian president’s suggestion that peace talks with Russia held in Jerusalem should be ridiculous. He does not want the Russians to occupy his country, so he calls for a meeting in an already occupied country. This, In addition to the fact that the Ukrainian president is Zionist par excellence and supported the Zionist state in its recent war on[Read More…]
In a Globalised World, when we see images of the conflict that is currently occurring in Ukraine on our News Feeds, Whatsapp Groups, Telegram Twitter and Instagram; as well as ofcourse on our TeleVision sets; we tend to lose sight of the human element and how close it could have been us instead. We sit far away and analyse it,[Read More…]
A thick cloud is now shrouding Ukraine, once a part of the erstwhile Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Sufferings of about two million people from Ukraine are now overwhelming all around the world, as sufferings of refugees in many parts of the globe always pain humanity. There’s the dark cloud of a confrontation over the land. The darkness of[Read More…]
In a global atmosphere dominated by war hysteria, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s call for peace in Ukraine has been sidelined. On March 7, 2022, he said that “those who provoked this conflict with decades of non-compliance with agreements, with decades of threats against Russia, with decades of preparing plans for the extension of NATO are the first ones who are[Read More…]
In less than two weeks will be the chilling anniversary of probably the most heinous act by my nation of pre-emptive war against another nation. March 19th, 2003 when this writer awoke for breakfast I was greeted by all the cable news networks’ subtly celebrating our carpet bombing attack on Iraq. As Baghdad was in flames elements of our 177,000[Read More…]
Two days after Russia attacked Ukraine and the day before Vladimir Putin put Russia on nuclear alert, I wrote a little article whose first sentence was: “Not wanting to sound hyperbolic, but I am starting to conclude that the nuclear madmen running the U.S./NATO New Cold War they started decades ago are itching to start a nuclear war with Russia.” It was[Read More…]
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in the Struggle over Eurasia Just as the relentless grinding of the earth’s tectonic plates produces earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, so the endless superpower struggle for dominance over Eurasia is fraught with tensions and armed conflict. Beneath the visible outbreak of war in Ukraine and the U.S.-Chinese naval standoff in the South China Sea, there[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Russian President Putin has claimed that he ordered the invasion of Ukraine to “denazify” its government, while Western officials, such as former U.S. Ambassador to Moscow Michael McFaul, have called this pure propaganda, insisting, “There are no Nazis in Ukraine.” In the context of the Russian invasion, the post-2014 Ukrainian government’s problematic relations[Read More…]
A key factor that explains Vladimir Putin’s military invasion of Ukraine is traditional Russian imperialism. Throughout the world’s long and bloody history, other powerful territories (and, later, nations) expanded their lands through imperial conquest, including Rome, China, Spain, France, Britain, Germany, Japan, and the United States. Russia was no exception. Beginning with the small principality of Moscow in 1300, Russia[Read More…]
War and the Deep State Russia’s military attack on Ukraine starting 24 February 2022, is war. Whether or not countries are actually involved in war, war is always justified by one or more parties to the conflict, and condemned as unjustified by one or more parties. Both sides of the conflict and opinion have their arguments and “facts”, which are[Read More…]
Extreme religious or anti-religious engagement of the ruling political forces in modern times would have serious negative consequences for the society as whole and the state apparatus. The Russian experience shows this very clearly. The communist phase of Russia was completely anti-religion. Now Putin’s Russia is deeply associated with the Orthodox Church that suffered a lot during the communist regime. Vladimir[Read More…]
Dividing the world into worthy and unworthy victims is a tactic used to justify our crimes and demonize our enemies. Conflicts will not be solved until all nations abide by international law and all victims are deemed worthy. Rulers divide the world into worthy and unworthy victims, those we are allowed to pity, such as Ukrainians enduring the hell of modern[Read More…]
Incidents following the Ukraine Crisis are developing dramatically. The world markets are also bearing the Crisis’ brunt. A report by The New York Times said: A digital barricade went up between Russia and the world. Both Russian authorities and multinational internet companies built the wall with breathtaking speed. And the moves have ruptured an open internet. TikTok and Netflix are[Read More…]
The war between Russia and Ukraine began much before February 24, 2022—the date provided by the Ukrainian government, NATO and the United States for the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Dmitry Kovalevich, a journalist and a member of a now-banned communist organization in Ukraine, the war actually started in the spring of 2014 and has never[Read More…]
“I liked history better when it was in the past.” There are several implications of this kind of statement. For people living in benign territories, ones that are not subject to corporate or military subjugation, history is the past, the written record of what has happened while life continues on its usual path. For others history is what is occurring[Read More…]
In recent days, experts have begun laying out the potential hardships the Russian invasion of Ukraine might inflict here in the United States, thousands and thousands of miles from the battle zone. As former White House national security official Richard Clarke bluntly put it, “Russia will bring the war to our homeland.” He pointed to potential damage in two particular realms, possible[Read More…]
A Protest was undertaken by Lok Sangram Morcha, in Punjab in Nature Park in Moga district on March 5th protesting the War in Ukraine. The front is a conglomeration of revolutionary democratic mass organizations, adhering towards Communist revolutionary line. Even if not more than around 400 persons it was impactful in raising the consciousness of the basic masses on the[Read More…]
No war is a one-sided affair. There is no sound to one hand clapping. Russia’s assault on Ukraine is an unambiguously bad thing. But it didn’t happen in a vacuum. In order to solve the problem, we have to first understand the context in which it occurred, and the part that the U.S. played in its happening. The Big Bang in[Read More…]
Grain prices were rising before the Ukraine conflict. But recent days have seen unprecedented further gains as two of the world’s biggest producers, Russia and Ukraine, are at war. Wheat closed in Chicago at the highest price ever on Monday. Benchmark corn and soybean futures have each surged by 26% this year. Those kinds of increases in food-staple commodities have been associated with social unrest throughout history.[Read More…]
Working with Russian academics and institutions. The attack upon Ukraine by Russia. These are two features playing out heavily in university discussions. As typifies such chitchat, nuance features rather less than cant and sanctimony. As writer and lecturer Paolo Nori of Milano-Bicocca University stated after discovering that his course on Fyodor Dostoevsky would be cancelled in response to the war,[Read More…]
In an effort to forestall the eruption of significant popular opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Putin government is systematically banning news outlets and social media platforms in the country. The government is simultaneously cracking down on still as of yet small anti-war protests in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and other cities. On Friday, Russia’s federal agency for information technology[Read More…]
Ukraine and Russia should negotiate an agreement to protect plant personnel and allow safe shift changes as well as emergency preparedness and response activities. Russian troops in Ukraine seized Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant Friday after shelling set part of the complex on fire, ringing alarm bells around the world of a potential nuclear disaster. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of waging[Read More…]
Media reports said: Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy and likened the West’s sanctions on Russia to “declaring war,” while a promised cease-fire in the besieged port city of Mariupol collapsed amid scenes of terror. Putin continued to pin the blame for the war squarely on the Ukrainian leadership and slammed their resistance to the invasion. “If[Read More…]
Russian invasion on Ukraine has resulted in global outcry against Vladimir Putin and his regime. There are protests and sanctions against Russia. United Nations has passed resolutions where many nations including China, India, Pakistan have abstained and refused to toe to the western line. The UN Human Rights Committee is forming a commission of inquiry against Russian War crime. UN[Read More…]
Rational Leaders Think of People, not Egoism In an age of Reason, the cause of humanity calls for peace, freedom and respect for human dignity. In a hybrid geo-political culture – part human and part vulture, we are witnessing a forgotten wisdom of human courage and foresight to stand for the protection of human rights, state sovereignty and national freedom[Read More…]
US and EU responding with escalation instead of pushing for a political settlement Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 is illegal according to international law. It is a war crime. Putin arguably still had diplomatic options open to him. Everyone who is anti-war must condemn this attack. At the same time, it was not unprovoked. Further, the US is[Read More…]
The recent appalling Russian invasion of Ukraine must be condemned. It’s yet another atrocious aggression in a long series of violations of international law by several countries including the US, Britain, Russia and Israel. It is terribly disappointing that humanity has failed to advance beyond the use of warfare (military, economic and cyber) to settle problems. Lobbying by the[Read More…]
On incidents centering Ukraine, media reports said: French President Emmanuel Macron thinks “the worst is yet to come” in Ukraine after talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. A senior French official said Macron’s warning came after the two leaders spoke for 90 minutes, which did not yield any diplomatic progress. The official said Putin was determined to carry[Read More…]
“These people are not people we are used to… these people are Europeans.” – Kiril Petkov, Bulgarian Prime Minister, Associated Press, March 1, 2022 In the history of accepting refugees, countries have shown more than an erratic streak. Universal human characteristics have often been overlooked in favour of the particular: race, cultural habits, religion. Even immigration nations, such as the[Read More…]
Western media simplifies the conflict in Ukraine in ways that divide us. But what if instead, we chose to unite against those who profit from all wars throughout the world? I figured something out after tossing and turning all night. We on the left often make the mistake of still looking upon Russia as a somewhat socialist enterprise. Of course,[Read More…]
Since the end of World War II, the US and its allies have been directly responsible for 81 percent of all unjust wars, illegal occupations of countries, civilian deaths, violations of human rights, destruction of entire nations like Vietnam, Cambodia, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, and many more. So, the most embarrassing question for the US and its allies is[Read More…]
We live on a planet in motion, a world of collision and drift. This was once an Earth of super-continents — Gondwana, Rodinia, Pangea. The eastern seaboard of the United States sidled up against West Africa, while Antarctica cozied up to the opposite side of the African continent. But nothing in this world lasts and the tectonic plates covering the planet are always in[Read More…]
In the world as it has come to be, certain gestures are obligatory while equivalent ones are not. We are trained to have what can be deemed as inconsistent responses to paired events which are for the most part similar, even identical. It is a fool’s errand to expect consistency and an exhausting routine to demand it. Asking for it,[Read More…]
The guilty can be devious in concealing their crimes, and their role in them. The greater the crime, the more devious the strategy of deception. The breaking of international law, and the breaching of convention, is a field replete with such figures. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has presented a particularly odious grouping, a good number of them neoconservatives, a[Read More…]
Surprise and horror have defined the reaction to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. That’s likely because although the intervention has followed the contours of a modern land war, it has also marked a break with the past in a number of ways. The world has become used to military interventions by the United States. This is, however, not a[Read More…]
In April 1941, four years before he was to become President and eight months before the United States entered World War II, Senator Harry Truman of Missouri reacted to the news that Germany had invaded the Soviet Union: “If we see that Germany is winning the war, we ought to help Russia; and if that Russia is winning, we ought[Read More…]
With Russia’s attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the activities of the governments of various countries, all global institutions including the United Nations, embassies, media, subject experts etc. is firmly focused on the Russia-Ukraine war. After the Second World War, European leaders agreed that in the future, the soil of Europe would be kept free from wars. This happened[Read More…]
Racist Ukraine coverage in mainstream Western media. Notice the racist overtones. 1. BBC “It’s very emotional for me because I see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed” – Ukraine’s Deputy Chief Prosecutor, David Sakvarelidze 2. CBS News “This isn’t Iraq or Afghanistan…This is a relatively civilised, relatively European city” – CBS foreign correspondent Charlie D’Agata 3.[Read More…]
Many incidents are developing centering Ukraine, which are largely ignored by a major part of media. But these incidents help understand the real picture centering Ukraine. Racism Against Students A Rolling Stone report (‘Ugly, Unprofessional’: International Students Describe Racism at the Ukrainian Border, March 2, 2022) said: Since Thursday, Feb. 24, more than 660,000 people have fled Ukraine, according to the U.N.[Read More…]
“World Tour of Wars” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is both illegal and immoral. While Russia’s concern that Ukraine’s decision to join NATO which also included the prospect of NATO setting up a missile base in Ukraine, 100 miles from Russia’s border, is genuine, this by no means is a justification for invading Ukraine. Russia should have continued to explore other[Read More…]
Putin is the most criticized person in western countries today. Repeated criticism of the invasion unleashed by him is justified, both because of the enormous distress caused to the people of Ukraine and the very serious threats posed to world peace and stability. Mass protests against Ukraine’s invasion in several western countries are therefore justified. However the interests of world[Read More…]
For people in Ukraine, the horror is just beginning. Hiding from bombardment in their basements, they will soon face hunger and then epidemics… And above them, on the streets – explosions, fire, the thunder of tanks, the whistle of bullets, the debris of fallen buildings, the cries of the wounded and dying, the foul smell of unburied corpses. But who[Read More…]
“Footfalls echo in the memory/ Down the passage which we did not take/ Towards the door we never opened/ Into the rose-garden.” (T. S. Eliot; from, “Four Quartets”) 1. Recent, shattering world events, have prompted me to check my files to reconsider any past references I’d made to Ukraine. I found a short note to a correspondent/friend from about 10[Read More…]
Both the Russian occupation of Ukraine and the Apartheid Israeli occupation of Palestine are wrong, violate international law, and have been hugely destructive. However a racist and specifically anti-Arab anti-Semitic West (the Anglosphere, NATO and the EU) utterly ignores the Israeli occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine while quite rightly condemning and sanctioning Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. This[Read More…]
The basic international law One of the most fundamental rules of international is that States are prohibited from using force to resolve their international disputes. Any State that uses force against the territorial integrity or political independence of another State violates this solemn rule of international law. Applying this rule, the use of force by Russia against Ukraine is an[Read More…]
No matter if the U.S. agreed or disagreed with Russia’s requests, Ukraine was a big loser, and the preferred solution was to cut its losses. U.S. and its allies enabled Ukraine and Russian suffering and had the U.S. (not its allies) gain a pyrrhic victory – the war will debilitate Russia’s prestige and the sanctions will debilitate Russia’s economy, circumstances that benefit[Read More…]
Russian forces have captured Chernobyl, a 1,000 square mile radioactive exclusion zone. But more significantly, what about Ukraine’s nuclear reactors smack dab in the middle of a theatre of war? A complicating/dangerous aspect of Russia’s invasion is the status of Chernobyl’s sister reactors, 15 reactors at four nuclear power plants exposed in a war zone of bombing, missile attacks and[Read More…]
by Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J.S. Davies Photo Credit: CODEPINK The defenders of Ukraine are bravely resisting Russian aggression, shaming the rest of the world and the UN Security Council for its failure to protect them. It is an encouraging sign that the Russians and Ukrainians are holding talks in Belarus that may lead to a ceasefire. All efforts must[Read More…]
When two scorpions are in a bottle, they both lose. This is the preventable danger that is growing daily, with no end game in sight, between the two nuclear superpowers, led by dictator Vladimir Putin and de facto sole decider, Joe Biden. Putin’s first argument is, Washington invented the model of aggressive, illegal invasions, and destruction of distant countries that never[Read More…]
Ignoring the vituperations of the west, Russian President, Vladimir Putin finally implemented his ‘military-technical’ threat against Ukraine on Thursday the 24th February. As expected, this produced a barrage of recriminations from those very countries of the US led NATO alliance, who had done their utmost to precipitate this situation, which had been simmering for the last eight years. Understandably, Ukrainian[Read More…]
This war must be immediately terminated before it expands and sucks in the European NATO States and the United States. Towards that end President Biden must publicly announce that NATO Expansion is over for good and that Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova will not be joining NATO as member States. President Biden must also call for an international peace conference for[Read More…]
The most obvious aspect of the Ukraine war just now is that it should end immediately, or as early as possible. If this lingers on, possibilities of new ways of spreading conflict can emerge. This has to be checked. This war and its violence should not spread. If all sides see reason, clearly it is possible for the conflict to[Read More…]
Russia has invaded Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin recognised two eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk as ‘independent’ nations and then on their ‘request’ it sent a ‘Peace Keeping Force’ to maintain order. So we have two new ‘nations’ in the world map: Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR) and the “Luhansk People’s Republic” (LPR) as independent. Both these two states[Read More…]
The mainstream Western media is almost unanimous in demanding that Russia and Vladimir Putin stop their military operation in Ukraine immediately. This in their opinion is the only solution to the current conflict. However, if one attempts to understand how the current conflict had evolved, one would ask not Russia but the US led Western alliance to bring down the[Read More…]
The first signs of the dual track in Russia’s hybrid war in Ukraine have surfaced. By Thursday evening, the Kremlin held out an olive branch to the Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky. Succinctly put, President Vladimir Putin expressed his preparedness to engage in discussions with his Ukrainian counterpart with a focus on obtaining a guarantee of neutral status for Ukraine and the[Read More…]
What Caused the War? The world woke up to alarming news on the morning of 24th February when Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine in a televised address. This doesn’t come as a shock due to the fact that war clouds were looming large in the skies of Eatern Europe since mid February. Though the Russian military aggression[Read More…]
There is war. Again there is war on the European continent – war of type and magnitude not experienced in Europe since Hitler and the racism imperialism of Nazi Germany. The war now is Putin’s war. Last night, this morning, tomorrow, always the same. War is murder. It is organized murder on a large scale. War technology increases the[Read More…]
Russia’s military has moved into Ukraine despite threats of sanctions repeated ad nauseum by President Biden and other leaders of the West. Obviously, the repeated threats of sanctions have not made any difference to Putin’s behavior. This should not surprise anyone as the sanctions imposed on Russia when it annexed the Crimea in 2014 did not compel Putin to reverse[Read More…]
Russia’s long-predicted invasion of Ukraine finally happened, but the reasons for it are widely misrepresented. Basic history is necessary in order to understand it. The Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, from Russia, under the Baltic Sea, to Germany, was planned in order to enable greatly increased sales-volume of the lowest-cost natural gas, which came from Russia, into the EU, without[Read More…]
Despite possible sanctions and their hard-hitting economic consequences, the hunted Russian bear has got out of the den and is going after the hunters. Until recently, Russians, Ukrainians, and Europeans believed that there would be no war. What we see now, however, is a full-scale Russian intervention and quite a successful one too. Where are the Russian troops going, and[Read More…]
Cynics say the situation around Ukraine benefits all parties except the Chinese. The Russians are annexing territories inhabited mostly by Russians, the Americans will sell natural gas and oil at very high prices, the Germans will push their (now cheap) green energy, and the French will open new nuclear power stations—while everyone will go on selling weapons systems because world[Read More…]