Tag: #EU

From Moldova to Crimea Lies an Uncertain Future for Russia

January 22, 2026

A changing situation exists along coastal Ukraine, Moldova, its neighbor to the west, and Crimea in the east. It threatens the unwitting Russian intruder more than the nations it has menaced.

Russia escalated its aerial assault upon Ukraine’s major coastal city and seaport, Odesa, beginning in December, 2025 and continuing into 2026. The city has considerable strategic value as Ukraine’s major throughway for foreign trade accounting for 65% of its imports and exports. Its rail connections, in turn, extend nationally to provide for both the efficient concentration of goods for export and quick distribution of imported needs. In its usual fashion, Russia has destroyed residential buildings, hospitals, electrical and heating substations, water supplies and bridges, resulting in more than 60 casualties thus far along with protracted power outages and exposure to the current winter’s extreme cold. … More From Moldova to Crimea Lies an Uncertain Future for Russia

When Rhetoric Clouds the Realities of Russia’s War 
Part II: The Elusive “Ironclad” Security Guarantee

December 19, 2025

The term, “security guarantee,” brings with it a sense of comfort provided a vulnerable nation by other nations with assurances that substantial force will be brought to bear upon an aggressor that threatens its well-being. When the vulnerable nation is not made a member of a group like NATO whose charter expressly defines the obligations of all members to intervene in an expected manner, such “security guarantees” become, over time, a matter of debate, or worse, of inconvenience. … More When Rhetoric Clouds the Realities of Russia’s War Part II: The Elusive “Ironclad” Security Guarantee

Ukraine is Europe’s Hammer

October 12, 2025

It is in Europe’s interest to redirect Vladimir Putin’s attention away from his multifaceted hybrid warfare scheme designed to intimidate European nations for their support of Ukraine. That can be accomplished by manifestly threatening Russia’s hold on Ukrainian territories it has occupied, specifically Crimea. Ukraine has been in open conflict with Russia now for more than 3.5 years and has demonstrated its military capability to inflict massive injury upon the Russian invader. Europe therefore has its hammer to retaliate should it choose to use it to good effect. The means to this end rests in supplying Ukraine with the necessary munitions sufficient to isolate the Crimean peninsula and force the surrender of any remaining Russian forces no longer able to evacuate the territory. Russia’s loss of Crimea would be the first step in retaking the remaining territories and bringing about the collapse of Putin’s regime for its failure to accomplish its goal of subduing Ukraine while, in the process, neglecting the welfare of his own people. … More Ukraine is Europe’s Hammer

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

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

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

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

Domestic Putin (Part 2)

August 12, 2023

The perception of performance of a totalitarian regime centers entirely upon its leader. The attributions of success and failure all find their way to that leader ultimately to provide some reckoning as to whether the costs of submission were worth the necessary sacrifice of individual and societal liberties. Given sufficient time, as these attributes accumulate upon the balance sheet of history, a decision is rendered, from the outside and within, of whether history smiles upon that leader and, accordingly, the complicit nation in question, or turns away in disgust. Seen from without, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is acknowledged now by most nations as belligerent and threatening, devoid of humanity, and untrustworthy. From within, with its current trajectory, it is destined to become a failed state, contaminated by an innate and inherent corruption and incapable of adequately delivering the basic services needed for several of its widespread territories. After more than 20 years, Putin’s leadership has brought shame upon Russia and its people and economic circumstances that will continue to haunt the country in succeeding generations. It is time to look at Putin’s Russia from within. … More Domestic Putin (Part 2)

Poland’s Historically Troubled Relations with Russia

April 19, 2023

Often, when thoughts come to mind of eastern Europe, the Warsaw Pact or simply those nations immediately west of the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), it is Poland that comes to the fore. Since it has broken loose the chains of its Soviet-style socialist existence and regained a true sense of self-determination, Poland has announced itself to the world in a manner that suggests it is set to lead. It both speaks and acts boldly and is dictating its own destiny. … More Poland’s Historically Troubled Relations with Russia