Category: Russian Economy

The Anxiety Over Ukraine’s Entry Into NATO

July 20, 2025

Both the U.S. and NATO have shown considerable restraint in support of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion by their very measured and incremental provision of armament, succeeding only in prolonging the conflict and continuing the suffering of Ukraine’s civilian population. Reasons for doing so have centered upon the fear of escalation and the perception that they would be drawn into direct military involvement against Russia in what would become a world war. This continuing fear of confrontation with Russia among NATO’s several member nations has not only prevented consensus regarding Ukraine’s admission into NATO but allowed Russia to behave as a rogue entity, committing numerous atrocities in direct contravention of international norms and exposing the weakness of the United Nations. … More The Anxiety Over Ukraine’s Entry Into NATO

European Solidarity and Purpose in the Face of the Russian Threat

June 10, 2025

If there is a truth to be learned from the history of global conflict, it must be that appeasement rarely brings a lasting peace when it is seen to result preferentially in concessions to the aggressor. Revanchist grievances arise and fester for generations and wounds are not forgiven. Even worse, the aggressor remains unsated when the original goal was not achieved. This was the lesson of the last world war and the one that most seem intent on forgetting, particularly those foolishly convinced of somehow being isolated from harm or those simply wanting to get on with the business of making money under more controlled circumstances. The failure to face the hard reality of ending a war by stopping an overt aggression in its tracks invites a future of recidivism acted out by the same aggressor or simply another of the same ilk. … More European Solidarity and Purpose in the Face of the Russian Threat

The Argument for a Reconstituted Ukraine as it was Before Putin

April 27, 2025

A nation’s viability as an autonomous, self-sustaining, and prospering entity depends upon the ongoing welfare of its people, its natural resources, a balanced governance, the ability to defend itself and its neighbors from foreign threat, a shared intelligence with its allies, and fair-minded reciprocal trade relations. For Ukraine, the road has been not just difficult but treacherous, the latter to do with Russia and, specifically, Vladimir Putin. Of all the justifications given for Russia’s invasion, none measure up for anyone but those who either perversely peddle Kremlin propaganda or who lack understanding of the historical background of the region and the detail of the events that actually transpired during the several years before the conflict. I would leave all these latter arguments that itemize the relevant issues to previously published material in order to focus on why Ukraine must remain whole rather than be disassembled by an ill-advised peace treaty. … More The Argument for a Reconstituted Ukraine as it was Before Putin

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

So, Who Wants to be Part of Russia?

February 27, 2025

Three years ago when Russia made its imperialist intentions clear with the invasion of Ukraine, it was with the belief that the Ukrainian people really had no country of their own. As it turned out, to Russia’s dismay, the Ukrainians thought otherwise, enough for them to have withstood over a thousand days of brutal warfare with the sort of national will that would challenge any nation to have done the same. In the process, they have inflicted heavy losses upon Russia’s military, enough so that it is now struggling to maintain an effective offensive while its war economy is threatened with collapse should it continue on its present course. … More So, Who Wants to be Part of Russia?

The Ongoing Underperformance of American Foreign Policy in Ukraine

January 31, 2025

Current indications from within the Trump administration show an intent to end a decade-long failure to adequately confront Russian aggression in Ukraine to what by now can be considered an impending capitulation to Vladimir Putin’s intransigence. This as he heaps praise on the U.S. President for his reelection. Putin has gone on to regard Donald Trump as a “clever and pragmatic man” and to suggest that “if his victory had not been stolen in 2020,” then there may not have been a crisis. In return, the latter remarkably has blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for the war when he chose not to surrender Ukraine in the face of the February, 2022 Russian invasion, suggesting a serious lack of understanding of the situation by an ill-informed president. The current state of ignorance follows several years of U.S. leadership that has not confronted the depth of Putin’s intentions in Eastern Europe and Ukraine in particular. … More The Ongoing Underperformance of American Foreign Policy in Ukraine

The Shrinking State of Putin’s World

December 14, 2024

The foregoing sentiment, ostensibly of biblical origin, fits well with recent events in Syria and the toppling of its tyrannical and generational Assad regime. The collapse occurred over what seemed only a matter of days for a regime dating back to 1971 when Hafez al-Assad gained the presidency of Syria in a coup, passing it on to his son Bashar in 2000. The latter continued Syria’s decades-long ties with Iran and its regional militant proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, and went on to institute a reign of terror of outright killings and incarcerations, bringing on the condemnation of the West. It would all come to an end in a catastrophic dismantling of the regime and the abandonment of its leader. Thus far, it highlights Vladimir Putin’s questionable place in global opinion. … More The Shrinking State of Putin’s World

China, Quo Vadis?

October 5, 2024

Why would China align itself with a rogue authoritarian state like Russia that has openly violated the United Nations (UN) charter with its invasion of a sovereign nation, committed numerous atrocities and promoted global humanitarian suffering by disrupting food distribution and cross-border mass migrations? What is the possible motive for such an entanglement in the long-term when China’s moral compass on the world stage is being called into question? Its plan for a multipolar world order seeks to challenge the current one led by the United States (U.S.) that has unfolded successfully over the past several decades. But how is China’s plan to be understood when its actions belie its stated intentions? … More China, Quo Vadis?

A Letter to Kamala Harris

September 7, 2024

There is no gray area here. Vladimir Putin’s intentions and conduct identify a criminal of a rank given to the most egregious perpetrators of war and suffering that humanity has managed to once more retch forth. Now in a third year of war in Ukraine, Putin has committed his bewildered nation to a ruinous military campaign that has shamed it globally. That shame resides not only with Russia’s committed atrocities that continue to be chronicled but with the revelation that it actually lacks the competency to effectively execute a war. … More A Letter to Kamala Harris

Populism’s Path toward Authoritarianism: The Weirdness of the West

July 15, 2024

Before we become too enamored with the notion that the Russian state and its governance represents the sort of model for us to emulate and the kind of partnership we must seek in a world increasingly in need of security against the global threats of war, economic collapse, climate change and disease, a timely review of the example set by Russia is in order. Russia’s fate has been so intertwined with the sole aspirations of its resident dictator that it now faces the prospect of not simply military defeat in a poorly conceived attempt to overtake a neighboring sovereign nation but the ignominy of ultimate economic collapse. Rather than avoiding such “foibles” of authoritarian rule, some European and other western nations have been engaged in the idea of following suit with their own versions of populist ideals. Ahead of most other nations in its wild pursuit toward similar autocracy is Viktor Orban’s Hungary, well along in its decline into authoritarian rule, and therefore equally suited for similar scrutiny. … More Populism’s Path toward Authoritarianism: The Weirdness of the West