( Tomdispatch.com) – I have a question for you: What would it take in today’s world for America’s military spending to go down? Here’s one admittedly farfetched scenario: Vladimir Putin loses his grip on power and Russia retrenches militarily while reaching out to normalize relations with the West. At the same time, China prudently decides […]
Archives for April 2022
Yes, Bucha is a War Crime: Putin Told us who He was in East Aleppo
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Russian withdrawal from the small town of Bucha near the capital of Kyiv left behind a raft of murdered civilians in the streets and bombed buildings the way an ebbing tide leaves behind flotsam and driftwood after a violent tsunami. The Russian government is attempting to escape blame for […]
The Dangers of Assaulting Fortress Kyiv: The Peril Putin’s Troops Now Face was Shown by the Battles of Stalingrad, Grozny, and Mosul
Brian Glyn Williams (University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth) and Aaron Rawley. Aaron Rawley is Volunteer Personnel Coordinator at the Gore Place Historical Museum, Waltham Mass. Dartmouth, MA (Special to Informed Comment) – At first glance Russia’s widely lambasted thrust from Belorussia down to the Ukrainian capital appears to have stalled due to logistic issues that have […]
Facing severe Repression, Russians are turning to antiwar Graffiti
By Colleen Wood and Alexis Lerner | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – It is exceedingly difficult to organize peaceful protests in Russia. Since the Kremlin’s “Special Operation” began on Feb. 24, police have detained nearly 15,000 people across the country in connection with peaceful demonstrations. On March 4, the Kremlin expanded the scope of […]
What are War Crimes? Ukraine Atrocities and the Likelihood of Prosecuting Putin
By Amy Lieberman, The Conversation, interviewing Abel Escribà-Folch, Alexander Hinton, Joseph Wright and Shelley Inglis | – Russian troops retreated from Kyiv and the nearby town of Bucha in early April 2022, and new horrors of their occupation were revealed. Ukrainian forces found the bodies of at least 410 civilians – among them people who […]
White House OMB: Climate Crisis to cost US $2 trillion Each and Every Year in 8 Decades
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Timothy Gardner at Reuters has gotten an advance look at a White House Office of Management and Budget document that concludes that by the end of this century, when Olivia Rodrigo would be 100 if she has the long life we wish for her, the annual cost of the climate […]
Ukraine: are reports of Russian troops mutinying and deserting true? It’s happened before
By Natasha Lindstaedt, University of Essex | – Reports have emerged in recent days that Russian troops in Ukraine, stalled in their advance and suffering numerous military setbacks, have sabotaged their own equipment, refused to fight and carry out orders, and even, in one report, run over their own commander. Nato estimates that as many […]
No to WW III: Why Russia Fumbled in Ukraine, China Lost Its Way, and America Should Exercise Restraint
( Tomdispatch.com) – In Western military circles, it’s common to refer to the “balance of forces” — the lineup of tanks, planes, ships, missiles, and battle formations on the opposing sides of any conflict. If one has twice as many combat assets as its opponent and the leadership abilities on each side are approximately equal, […]
Being There, Being Here: Palestinian Writings in the World
( Middle East Monitor ) – Maurice Ebileeni’s study of Palestinian literary narratives and the imaginings of the Palestinian homeland highlights the need to rethink both. Being There, Being Here: Palestinian Writings in the World takes the reader on a multifaceted journey through land, continents and languages as these intertwine with Palestinian authors’ perceptions, imaginings […]