Tag: Ukraine
Stevenson’s army, September 2
– Matt Yglesias shows why the GOP proposal for war on Mexico is simplistic, short-sighted, and stupid.
– Colin Woodard shows how different regions of the US are even on life expectancy.
– WSJ graphically shows Russian defenses in Ukraine
– WaPo tells the political history of Labor Day
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, August 25
-WaPo has maps showing impact of the Tuberville hold on 301 military nominations.
– WSJ says Chinese may help Saudi nuclear plant
– Military Times has quotes on foreign policy from GOP “debate”
– Defense One highlights State office that handles Ukraine aid.
– Lawfare has summary of recent events in the Pacific region.
I’ve long believed that “some people die only in the Times” — that NYT runs obituaries on little known but deeply significant people. Today, it tells about the man who invented the PDF format.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Lessons from the Wagnerian tragedy
While the odds of my saying anything new are minimal, it is difficult not to comment on the death yesterday of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner comrades. I think it is fair to assume it was murder. A plane accident would be just too convenient. And we’ll never know for sure, so why not assume the obvious?
What we don’t know and what the incident tells us
It is difficult to fathom why Prigozhin thought he could fly around Russia safely. Just a few days ago he put out a video purporting to show him in Africa. Might he have imagined that Putin would be fooled? Might he have believed that his good friend Vladimir would allow him to continue to live after attempting a coup? Had he tried to blackmail Putin into leaving him alone, by promising to have published incriminating material if he were to die? No one knows.
What we do know is that this incident confirms, once again, that Putin is a garden variety homicidal dictator. No one should have doubted that–the denefestrations and poisonings have been confirming it for decades. But it has political implications, both in Russia and in the United States.
Russians need to get brave
The implication in Russia is that Putin will never leave office voluntarily. He knows that peaceful retirement is not an option. He’ll try to stay in power as long as he can.
To get rid of him, Russians will need to be courageous. There is little sign of such courage so far, but it might be brewing beneath the surface. Whoever arranged for Prigozhin’s plane to come down could do the same for Putin’s. That will make him extra cautious and repressive. He has already tightened the screws on dissent, but will likely do more. Even much more.
Americans need to get smarter
Following Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson, there is a part of the Republican Party, and a fringe on the left, that has been inclined to accommodation with Putin. They would like less aid for Ukraine and more, echoing a Moscow troll line, for Hawaii, though of course the Republicans would never actually push aid in Hawaii’s direction.
Trump and Carlson may continue to shill for Putin. They are not just dumb but craven. But the filo-Russian faction on both left and right should now be as dead as Prigozhin.
There is no longer any alternative, if ever there was, for the West in Ukraine. Europe and the US need to give Ukraine everything it needs to defeat Russia and expel its forces from all Ukrainian territory. Putin’s defeat may not guarantee his fall, but if he manages to hold on to territory in Ukraine it will make his fall much less likely. His succesor may be worse for Russians, but defeat in Ukraine will make him and Russia weaker. That is what Americans need to aim for.
Accountability would be nice
I guffawed at the first news of Prigozhin’s accident. But it is not a laughing matter, even if he was a clownish war criminal. Dictators worldwide will be watching to see the consequences. Let’s hope Russians can somehow give Putin his just desserts.
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, August 24
– Dan Drezner comments on the foreign policy points in the GOP candidate show. He links to an earlier column on force against Mexico, which Gov. DeSantis emphasized.
– I’m repeatedly impressed by the entrepreneurial reporting and analysis by Politico’s Nat Sec Daily. You should all subscribe [it’s free] Last night they looked into the possible sources for the many similar “Ukraine isn’t doing what we advised” stories. [Scroll to the second story]
– Reuters has more on the Prigozhin flight.
– NYT has report on Russia’s recruitment advertising.
-BRICs are adding members.
Charlie sent this latish yesterday:
– Tom Nichols assesses Prigozhin’s likely death.
– Earlier, NYT spoke to analysts critical of Ukraine’s offensive, though Jake Sullivan denied stalemate.
– David Ignatius calls for a bigger Space Force.
– Lawfare sees legal issues over Niger coup.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, August 22
– NYT sees trends in recent elections in Ecuador and Guatemala.
– FT’s Gideon Rachman sees East Asia hitting a demographic wall.
– Both NYT and WaPo see trend of state legislation against China
– WaPo sees cluster bombs helping Ukraine
– OMB has released new Circular A11, tells agencies how to prepare their budgets [be careful, it’s 1,070 pages]
– State has warned Americans to leave Belarus immediately.
– Dan Drezner weighs the 14th amendment case for blocking Trump, says it would be better for him to lose at the ballot box.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
Share this, I'll really appreciate it:
Stevenson’s army, August 21
– Economist sees sour mood in Ukraine.
– The Hill sees refugee fatigue in Europe.
– NYT sees China “dark mood” over deflation.
– US Japan & Australia plan drills in SCS
– Axios reports on Chinese propaganda schools in Africa
– New Yorker says US government relies on but has complicated relations with Musk.
– Punchbowl News shows crowded congressional calendar in September
RSS - Posts
