Category: Misinformation

Misjudgments About the War in Europe

April 12, 2024

A recent troubling development has come to public attention regarding pressure placed upon Ukraine by the United States (U.S.) to end its targeting of Russian oil refineries, storage depots and port facilities in response to Russia’s invasion and its unceasing attacks on civilian infrastructure. Global oil prices have trended upward to 15% currently and may effect U.S. gasoline prices in the course of the year, escalating inflation concerns as yet another consequence of Russian malfeasance. In the end, protracting this conflict with decision-making in the West that falls short of the mark does little to bring Ukraine or the world some promise of a decisive conclusion with restoration of a sovereign nation. … More Misjudgments About the War in Europe

Putin’s Odds (Part 4) – The Trees and the Forest

March 11, 2024

History is meant to work as an educational tool for those generations to follow. It is meant to provide direction for establishing priorities that will guide the deliberations of leaders. Blunders of the past have often resulted from national grievances that have been propagandized to a feverish level by authoritarian regimes with self-serving agendas. When war has been the result, the outcome has often led to catastrophic defeat for the aggressor and a protracted national shame but not without the inevitability of widespread grief shared by the many nations forced to confront the aggressor. … More Putin’s Odds (Part 4) – The Trees and the Forest

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

Orbán and Populism in Europe

January 5, 2024

Just across the border from Estonia on Russian territory stands a very visible sign with a simple statement, “Russia knows no borders,” a characteristically Russian self-indulgent bravado meant to intimidate a smaller nation that has stood firmly with Ukraine in its current war with Russia; a war by which Russia has made clear that it has no regard for the borders of sovereign nations. It stands as warning to any nation in its proximity – the Baltic states, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia. … More Orbán and Populism in Europe

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

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

Pro-Russian Gaslighting in North America – the “Tankies”

October 2, 2023

“Tankie” definition: an individual on the far left or far right of the political spectrum who aligns with corrupt foreign authoritarian regimes to promote their foreign policy agenda, thinking them to be superior to that of their own nation. (Russian translation: “useful idiot”)

“Thinking of things is difficult; therefore, let the herd pronounce judgment.” – Carl G Jung   
With that sarcasm, so goes the global campaign of Russian disinformation in its various forms spread by well-funded media trolls, ill-informed journalists, political hacks and academics whose bias exceeds the guardrails of scholarship: Enter the tankies. The rhetoric is commonplace and repetitive giving one the feeling that, despite its absurdity, the more often it’s said, the more likely it will be taken as “truth.” To be clear, the United States (U.S.) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) did not instigate the war in Ukraine as some scholars are desperate to claim and others are keen to regurgitate. … More Pro-Russian Gaslighting in North America – the “Tankies”

Putin’s Designs on Empire vs Putin’s Fear of NATO Encroachment

July 1, 2023

A number of essays have appeared over the past year regarding the actions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in fueling Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, a sovereign nation, in an attempt to overtake its government for the apparent purpose of preventing its assimilation within NATO. In essence, it was NATO’s gradual and willful encroachment upon Russia that was the crux of the matter. Putin’s stated goal, however, was to deNazify and demilitarize Ukraine because he saw it as a threat to Russia and all ethnic Russians in Ukraine. We have yet to see a lucid argument justifying the accusation and subsequent actions that doesn’t shame his regime and Russia before most of the world. … More Putin’s Designs on Empire vs Putin’s Fear of NATO Encroachment

Russian Disinformation and the Inconvenience of Truth – 1941 and 2022

May 10, 2023

This is the scene that has been unfolding for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. It is witness to familiar elements of what we have come to regard as the worst of humanity – indiscriminate destruction of cities, mass executions, kidnapping of children, displacement of millions of civilians, rape, forced prostitution and torture, highlighted recently by the savagery of beheading prisoners. The bare truth underlying this Russian invasion is that it is entirely unjustified. … More Russian Disinformation and the Inconvenience of Truth – 1941 and 2022

The Isolationist Stance of the Uneducated

March 20, 2023

The comments made by some individuals vying for political relevance in the coming presidential race seem to have little to do with the reality of global affairs and more to do with voter appeal. More qualified authorities with a sense of world history, current geopolitical dynamics, military strategy, trade relations, humanitarianism and national identity are better suited for comment than those who merely seek distinction with provocative soundbites that pretend to show wisdom. When an effective global effort is underway in which the United States has taken the lead to address a crisis, American resolve should not be looked upon by the world as time-dependent and its promises restricted to the duration of a single presidential administration. There can be no assurance than that the welfare of the international community, including that of America itself, is under consideration and can remain secure in the long-run. This is particularly the case, when authoritarian regimes figure themselves to have permanency and have intentions of forever securing that state-of-affairs by whatever means available to them despite what history has repeatedly taught us. … More The Isolationist Stance of the Uneducated