It was earlier this month that the German financial newspaper, Handelsblatt, warned of the dangerous spread of war fever throughout Europe. The paper found that Europeans were being “mentally mobilized” for war. Something eerily similar is happening in America. In today’s Washington Post, columnist Anne Applebaum questions whether the European
Continue readingTag: Putin
The Disaffected Lib: Oh, Crap! Sorry, I Meant the Ukraine.
Vlad Putin, it seems, has a response to the hectoring recently from the likes of Sideshow Steve Harper and John Baird and others – “meet me in the Arctic.” The Guardian reports that Putin has had enough of Western criticism of Russian involvement in the Ukraine whose government he likens to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The Washington Post Asks – Was Putin Right?
It was last September when Vladimir Putin penned an op-ed about Syria that ran in The New York Times. The West rejected Putin’s views then but now The Washington Post asks whether Putin was right all along. Putin argued against American airstrikes on the Assad regime. “A strike would increase
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Have You Heard the Latest?
Have you heard the latest about last month’s Malaysian Airlines MH-17 shootdown over Ukraine? No? Neither have I. When the Boeing 777 plunged to the ground killing everyone aboard, Western leaders were quick out of the gate to finger Vlad Putin, directly or indirectly, and Ukraine’s pro-Russia separatist militias for
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: When Confidence Fails
Few who lived through the Cold War with its constant threat of nuclear annihilation realize the role confidence played in preventing an outbreak of apocalyptic hostilities. Even at times when we thought the “other side” might be nearing the point of pre-emptive attack, we had a sufficient degree of confidence
Continue readingTrashy's World: Russia should NOT be allowed to host…
…the 2018 World Cup. As Clegg asserts in this article FIFA is unlikely to strip Putinland of the tourney, however. Responding this week after some German politicians called for Russia to be boycotted, Fifa said the 2018 tournament could be a “force for good”. Putin is an international criminal and
Continue readingTrashy's World: I’m increasingly concerned….
…about what we are going to see as an end game of the Ukraine crisis. The States is upping the rhetoric, as is the UK. But other European leaders are remaining fairly quiet for fear of Russian repercussions – economic or otherwise. Putin is in the regional expansion game for
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Harper’s Cold War Becomes Arctic Chill: Why Domestic Politicking Makes For Bad Foreign Relations
Outgoing Russian Ambassador Georgiy Mame, spoke before his departure, lamenting our government’s undiplomatic posturing with his country, including Stephen Harper’s suggestion that Putin was the next Hitler. He accused the Harper government of isolating itself from its allies over Ukraine and hinted broadly that the Conservatives are likely playing to
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Harper: A Decade In And He Still Doesn’t Get It
Stephen Harper has been in power for the high side of a decade. That’s a long time. Most Prime Ministers by this point in their careers have figured out that the foreign affairs portfolio is a tricky one. When you are a smallish nation like Canada, you get much better
Continue readingArt Threat: A visceral, jarring work: A review of Children 404
“Children like me simply don’t exist for them.” With these ominous words, spoken over a crackling telephone connection, Children 404 draws to a close; its unsettling conclusion signaled by an image of the Russian landscape fading into obscurity, scrubbed out by a layer of broken cloud seen from above, through
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: One possible Russian-driven solution
Bill Clinton: Ukraine Saviour? Ukraine is in turmoil, with positions apparently hardening on all sides, since the Geneva Agreement outlining a method of resolution was agreed upon a short while ago. The level of support for the anti-Kiev position in eastern Ukraine is unclear at the moment: Armed men have
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: Russia advances its creeping-federalization agenda
Ukraine: Doors open for Putin Today, much to the surprise of some, a public agreement was announced by the US, Russia, EU and current Ukraine government, dealing with concrete steps to move the matter forward. The following is the full text of that agreement, with the most important part (in
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Democracy Blooming at the Margins: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine and Taiwan
From OpenDemocracy.net, yesterday. Jasmin Mujanović 14 April 2014 The terrifying spectre in these countries is not of ravenous foreign capital, though there is plenty of experience with this too, but of the persistent suffering of being an oft bloodied geopolitical borderland. Blockade and occupation of Taiwan’s legislature enters day seven.
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: Angela Merkel and the Sleepwalkers
With all the huffing and puffing going on around Crimea, Ukraine, and Putin’s metamorphosis into Hitler, it’s a pleasure to read that Germany’s Merkel is trying to learn from the past: In contrast to the posturing and empty rhetoric in London and Washington is the calm voice of Germany’s Angela
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: The Solution is at hand
Foreign Minister Lavrov – the man with the answer Within a week or so the outlines of a solution to the Ukraine predicament will become clear to all. As I expected (and hoped), wiser heads have come up with a workable formula. The Russians are leading the way, with Obama
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: On The Crimea Referendum
Okay, Crimea has had its referendum, and apparently over 95% of those who voted, chose to align with Russia. I don’t know the full context of the politics in Crimea. I do understand that Kruschev signed control over Crimea over to Ukraine back in the 1950s, so I’m sure that
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: Russia punts ball down the field to gain time
Lavrov to punt … So Kerry and Lavrov met and walked on a soccer field, during a six-hour discussion of events in the Crimea and Ukraine. At the end of that session, they agreed to disagree: Lavrov said Crimea was very important for Russia but added that he could not
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: You don’t want your Banker have this conversation
Putin testing the waters … The central bank of Russia has just taken over control of a Russian unit of one of the Ukraine’s largest banks, which is controlled by one of the richest supporters of the new Ukrainian government, Ihor Kolomoyski. The oligarch, representing the unique marriage of pubescent
Continue readingdrive-by planet: New government in Kiev not exactly ‘revolutionary’: demonization of Russia
Top – Kiev government officials / Beneath – billionaire oligarchs Igor Kolomoyski and Sergey Taruta It comes as no surprise that the so-called “democratic revolution” in Ukraine basically boils down to a change of governing elites. The self-appointed government in Kiev does not herald any sweeping change that could credibly
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Let’s Not Kid Ourselves. We’re Backing Anti-Semitic Fascists.
Your Country is on Their Side The Guardian’s Seumas Milne dismembers the rank hypocrisy of our position on Ukraine, the role we played in creating this crisis and the villainous cutthroats we’re backing. Diplomatic pronouncements are renowned for hypocrisy and double standards. But western denunciations of Russian intervention in Crimea
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