Category: Belarus

Russia’s Coalition of Troubled Nations and Ukraine’s Defiance

August 5, 2026

Russia’s war upon Ukraine has seen the active participation of three other aligned autocracies – Belarus, North Korea, and Iran – in its prosecution of the largest European military conflict since World War II. A fourth partner, China, has provided subtler but well-recognized support for Russia’s war for reasons better known to their respective leaders than the world at large. Despite the lack of adequate justification for Russia’s invasion, the leaders of these autocracies have seen fit to engage in this war for seemingly no better reason than transactional purposes of one sort or another. … More Russia’s Coalition of Troubled Nations and Ukraine’s Defiance

Putin’s Deceit: Ukraine, Belarus and the Road to Eastern Europe

April 14, 2025

Europe’s moment has come and action is called for in the face of Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine as U.S. commitment predictably gives ground to its longstanding adversary. Vladimir Putin’s imperialist designs are committed first to bringing both Ukraine and Belarus back into Russia’s fold before considering the options of returning the nations of the Baltic region and Eastern Europe under Russian hegemony. That doesn’t mean to say Putin is not meddling elsewhere to cause instability within Europe as in the Western Balkan nations, Germany, Romania, Poland, France, the United Kingdom and still other nations. … More Putin’s Deceit: Ukraine, Belarus and the Road to Eastern Europe

The Global Russian Pox

August 28, 2024

Vladimir Putin’s malevolence spreads well beyond the borders of Ukraine. Russia’s immediate neighbors in the European Union (EU) can attest to the various means by which they are threatened – engineered mass migration that attempts to destabilize social order, cyberattacks upon financial and governmental institutions, disinformation campaigns focused upon societal grievances, sabotage, assassinations and other devices to be elaborated upon here. Territorial proximity, however, is not a prerequisite for Russian intrusion. Similar approaches have been applied to other nations throughout the world and particularly in the West which Putin regards as his archetypal enemy in the manner typical of his Soviet upbringing. … More The Global Russian Pox

Putin, Latin America, Hybrid Warfare and the U.S. Border

October 21, 2023

For those who think that Vladimir Putin’s Russia and his war in Ukraine have little to do with the domestic situation in the United States (U.S.) and who likewise pay little attention to the influence his regime exerts in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America because it seems of little consequence for themselves or the world at large, it is more than time to reconsider. Since the end of World War II, Russia has been in a state of conflict with the U.S., vying for global advantage both militarily and geopolitically. The dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991 brought this to a temporary halt until Putin came to power in 2000. What followed was the reestablishment of an authoritarian regime with the intention of recreating some facsimile of a Russian empire of the past. In the process, Putin has gained for himself the reputation of an indicted international criminal and demonstrated to the world his disregard for the rule of law and human welfare. Putin’s conduct on the world stage has amounted to a series of atrocities committed within his own Russia, the Republic of Chechnya and the nations of Georgia, Syria, and now Ukraine. … More Putin, Latin America, Hybrid Warfare and the U.S. Border

A Russian Identity by Order of Putin

September 1, 2023

A national identity is something innate forged in a manner sufficient to provide peoples of diverse origins, and the generations that follow, the opportunity to mold themselves and their nation into a continuing entity that holds to the same principles which gave birth to that nation. Realization of such an identity is often reaffirmed by national tragedy and a subsequent commitment to overcome it by the gathered strength of the nation’s people. It is also realized by a continued commitment by the nation’s leadership to adhere to the principles initially set forth and to speaking truth to these principles before the people. A constitution is meant to be a palpable reminder to a nation and its leadership of this commitment. … More A Russian Identity by Order of Putin

Lukashenko Versus Belarus

January 13, 2023

Alexander Lukashenko, dictator of Belarus and seemingly proud of it, came to power as its first president in 1994 following dissolution of the Soviet Union three years earlier. A true acolyte of the old Soviet regime, he retained state ownership of major industries and acquired the power to dismiss parliament, gradually consolidating his very centralized authority by 1996. The Russian language was given equivalent status to that of Belarusian and previously established economic ties with Russia were strengthened as the two countries formed a Commonwealth in 1996. The latter evolved into the Union State of Russia and Belarus with the signing of a treaty in 1999. This Union State formalized integration of their economies to which were also added both their intelligence agencies and defense. Clearly the much weaker of the two, Belarus would gain both financial and military security in the arrangement. The process was not a smooth one for Lukashenko, however. … More Lukashenko Versus Belarus