Departments

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Russia

  • SOURCE: Foreign Policy in Focus
    4/24/2024

    Ukraine has Never been America's War

    by Lawrence Wittner

    A historian of diplomacy and peace movements argues that efforts to blame the war on American imperialism don't stand up to scrutiny. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    4/23/2023

    Putin Also Making War on Ukrainian Memory

    by Richard Ovenden

    Victory in war involves imposing one's own version of history on the next generation. Russian forces appear to be targeting Ukrainian archives where records of KGB surveillance and Soviet-era repression of Ukrainian civilians are held, part of an effort to delegitimize claims of independence. 

  • SOURCE: Boston Review
    4/26/2023

    How to End the War in Ukraine and Build Peace

    by Michael Brenes

    "The foundation of a progressive foreign policy, in my view, entails providing material support to countries suffering from deprivation and aggression in multiple forms—with such assistance reflecting the security and democratic interests of the United States and its people."

  • SOURCE: TomDispatch
    3/28/2023

    Will Ukraine be Remembered as the War of Surprises?

    by Rajan Menon

    Neither the perceived threat of NATO expansion nor Putin's alleged fears of liberalization explain the move to an all-out invasion. This uncertainty remains confounding, as has the progress of the war. 

  • 3/5/2023

    Whose "Red Lines"?

    by Lawrence Wittner

    Far from promoting clarity and stability, when powerful nations declare "red lines" in their dealings with the world they declare their intentions to impose their will on others. Peace-promoting red lines must be drawn by more robust international cooperation. 

  • SOURCE: The New Yorker
    2/17/2023

    Stephen Kotkin on How the Ukraine War Could End

    The historian of Russia and the USSR argues that Putin's invasion will ultimately be seen as a disaster for Russia. Its unclear, however, if that view is sufficiently widespread in Russia to change Putin's strategic outlook or the regime. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    2/14/2023

    Ukrainian Civilians' Experience of Violence

    by Anne Applebaum and Nataliya Gumenyuk

    Russian soldiers exposed to propaganda that Ukrainians were unwilling subjects of their local governments expected civilian support to capture political leaders; when this expectation was confounded, they unleashed violence. 

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    2/14/2023

    The Network Helping Russia's War Resisters Escape

    “In a situation where everyone is against you, including your own relatives, who think that you are a traitor and are ready to hang you from the nearest lamppost, I was extremely pleased to discover that there are people who don’t know you at all, who’ve never seen you, and they are ready to help,” said Oleg Zavyalov, 31.

  • 2/12/2023

    Russia's Courageous War Resisters

    by Lawrence Wittner

    While most Russians have chosen silence in the wake of Putin's harsh anti-dissent measures, and many military-aged men have opted to leave the country, a core of protesters have braved violence and imprisonment to denounce the Ukraine invasion. 

  • SOURCE: Substack
    2/8/2023

    Nuclear Fears Clouding Thinking on Ukraine

    by Timothy Snyder

    "Once we turn our attention to a hypothetical exchange of missiles, we get to imagine that we are the victims.  Suddenly the actual war no longer seems to matter, since our lives (we imagine) are at risk.  And the Ukrainians seem to be at fault."

  • 1/15/2023

    Resisting Nationalism in Education

    by Jacob Goodwin

    "Countering the pull toward nationalistic authoritarianism requires intellectual openness and curiosity.  This is a challenge in the time of recovery from the global pandemic, environmental catastrophe and jagged economic turbulence."