Europe

By Jeffrey Veidlinger | – Russian President Vladimir Putin justifies his war on Ukraine as a peacekeeping mission, a “denazification” of the country. In his address to the Russian people on Feb. 24, 2022, Putin said the purpose was to “protect people” who had been “subjected to bullying and genocide … for the last eight […]

Donald Trump

The Republican Party Persecuted US Leftists for tilting to Moscow but Makes Excuses for Putin-Loving Trump

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s fawning admiration of Vladimir Putin is well known, but it has often been brushed off as a quirk. We should have known how dangerous Putin was when he praised Trump as “impressive.” Trump is impressive the way spoiled butter left out too long is, rancid and foul-smelling. Now Trump […]

Displaced and Refugees

Why Putin’s War against Ukraine is Illegal in International Law

The Conversation

By Hurst Hannum | – Both international law and the United Nations Charter say that countries should not invade each other. But who has the ability to enforce those rules? U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres put them to the test on Feb. 24, 2022, when he called on Russia to stop its fast-moving ground invasion of […]

Climate Crisis

Climate-related damage to German forests ‘unprecedented’: German Aerospace Center

Clean Energy Wire

By Edgar Meza | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have for the first time determined how much of Germany’s forests have been lost due to heat, drought and pest infestation using satellite-based Earth observation data. The results are alarming: From January 2018 through April 2021, tree […]

Bush

How Bush’s Iraq Fiasco ruined US Credibility and Enabled Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – George W. Bush issued a statement about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It went like this: DALLAS, TEXAS – “Russia’s attack on Ukraine constitutes the gravest security crisis on the European continent since World War II. I join the international community in condemning Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of […]

History

Russia in Ukraine: Basing Land Claims on Ethnicity/History rather than Int’l Law always leads to Bloody Conflict

Ronald Suny

From: The Conversation: The first casualty of war, says historian Ronald Suny, is not just the truth. Often, he says, “it is what is left out.” Russian President Vladimir Putin began a full-scale attack on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 and many in the world are now getting a crash course in the complex and […]

Batteries

By Blocking Green Energy, Manchin and Republicans are Siding with Russia and Endangering US National Security

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Vladimir Putin just made you poorer. Your retirement funds invested in the stock market just tanked. The cost of getting to work just spiked. US energy security is imperiled even though we don’t import petroleum or methane gas from Russia. High prices affect everyone in the world, and US allies […]

Russia

Putin’s antagonism toward Ukraine was never just about NATO – it’s about creating a new Russian empire

The Conversation

By Emily Channell-Justice and Jacob Lassin | – As some Western observers have feared, Russian President Vladimir Putin has just proved that his aggression toward Ukraine was never really about NATO. In a speech on Feb. 21, 2022, Putin recognized the occupied territories in Ukraine of Donetsk and Luhansk and moved Russian forces into them. […]

Batteries

Will Germany’s Pause of Russian Gas Pipeline over Ukraine Galvanize its Green Energy Switch?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Tuesday, Germany’s socialist Chancellor, Olaf Scholtz, suspended the permitting process for the Nord Stream 2 methane gas pipeline that had been built to bring Siberian gas to Germany, over Russia’s declaration that two Ukrainian provinces were independent states. The $11 billion pipeline has already been constructed, but was awaiting […]