Category: Crimea

Putin’s Odds (Part 3) – Hopes of a Dictator

February 18, 2024

Like-minded authoritarian leaders seem inclined to form alliances to provide some assurance that their conduct, however corrupt and brutal, at least finds approval by their colleagues. These leaders tend to find their own justification in the role they have played in advancing some national purpose. It is actually more the case that they have elevated themselves to a place that allows them to adopt any form of aberrant conduct necessary to achieve goals more suitable for themselves than their nations. When such goals are threatened, as inevitably occurs, the desperate dictator will reach out to his authoritarian colleagues for support hoping it to be available for the duration of his troubles. … More Putin’s Odds (Part 3) – Hopes of a Dictator

Putin’s Odds (Part 1) – The Dissonance of War and Economy

January 30, 2024

Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine is beset by a confluence of several factors, some apparent and others not so much, each with their own dynamic and shifting significance. The thing about chaos is its relative unpredictability in acute circumstances. The consequent unpredictability makes it difficult to foresee where and when a point of criticality is reached that will dictate an end to the conflict or determine a clear and inevitable path to that end. … More Putin’s Odds (Part 1) – The Dissonance of War and Economy

Funding a War of Resistance 2022-2024

November 26, 2023

Several members of the United States (U.S.) House of Representatives are opposed to the notion that Ukraine requires their support in its war of resistance against Russia arguing, ostensibly, that enough has been provided to-date, that budget priorities should be directed elsewhere while repeating a narrative, without justification, that the distribution of aid to Ukraine has been mismanaged and much has been wasted in the process. The arguments are disingenuous, no more than contrived political statements that demonstrate a profound ignorance of the global consequences of their proposed inaction. … More Funding a War of Resistance 2022-2024

A History of Ukrainian Nationalism and its Partisan Movement

February 11, 2023

Global responses to efforts by Russia to label Ukrainians as Nazis have ranged from polite disbelief to cynical laughter over yet another clumsy propagandist attempt to justify its need to invade Ukraine. The label has served as a way of dehumanizing a people for daring to oppose what Putin believes to be Russia’s destiny. This opposition is, in reality, an expression of nationalism, an ideology that emphasizes loyalty, devotion or allegiance to a nation according to Britannica. Ukrainian resistance to Russian oppression has existed since the time of the Russian Empire dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries but, in the present day, it is convenient for Putin’s regime to conflate Ukraine’s sense of nationhood with fascist ideology. … More A History of Ukrainian Nationalism and its Partisan Movement

The Russian Language of Victimization and the Promotion of Vengeance

January 29, 2023

There has been a very consistent pattern of rhetorical atmospherics among prominent Russian officials promoting the notion that they have been threatened by the encroachment upon their border of the sinful West with its democratic ideals. The rhetoric would not have been alien to Otto von Bismarck 150 years ago when he lamented having to confront Russians with their ‘unpredictable stupidity.’ The messaging, however, has been largely, if not wholly, intended for consumption by the Russian populace which, sadly, either believes the nonsense regurgitated by state media, or is obliged to simply tow-the-line as they have been apt to do for centuries. Putin has made use of an undercurrent of Russian nationalism conflating it with the nation’s spiritual faith, to recall its historic struggle most recently against Nazi Germany. The struggle now, as Putin wishes to have Russia see it, is to save itself from Ukraine, a hitherto unknown bastion of neo-Nazism apparently only known to him, which has also chosen to align itself with the West and its assumed pervasive decadence. The shrill and anger of the delivery is meant to obscure the absurdity of the message but falls short for those who understand its intention. … More The Russian Language of Victimization and the Promotion of Vengeance

Crimea

December 31, 2022

As might be self-evident to most sentient beings, Crimea remains geographically contiguous with the territory of Ukraine, enough so that all but a Russian ultranationalist would understand the implacable logic of a situation that Putin chooses to ignore. Crimea is vital to the interests of Russia as a military stronghold providing access to the Mediterranean and, to a degree, still a favored nearby vacation destination that Russians would very much like to call their own. … More Crimea