The Standoff in Ukraine (and also in Washington)

Posted by on Mar 8, 2014 in Articles, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe, US Foreign Policy | 1 comment As the fate of Ukraine hangs in the balance, U.S. politicians from both parties have been scrambling to take advantage of the crisis. Republicans in Congress have slammed President Barack Obama for his “trembling inaction.” Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton has revived the hawkish approach of her pre-secretary of state years by comparing Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s actions to Hitler’s. With...
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Ukraine: The Clash of Partnerships

Posted by on Mar 5, 2014 in Articles, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe, US Foreign Policy | 0 comments The Cold War is history. For those growing up today, the Cold War is as distant in time as World War II was for those came of age in the 1970s. In both cases, empires collapsed and maps were redrawn. Repugnant ideologies were laid bare and then laid to rest, though patches of nostalgia persist. Surely the Cold War has been consigned to the textbooks as irrevocably as the Battle of the Bulge. The...
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Ukraine: Out of the Frying Pan

Posted by on Feb 26, 2014 in Articles, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe, US Foreign Policy | 2 comments In the end, the street triumphed over the elite. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych tried to hang on to power, and failed. Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to maintain Russian influence, and failed. The EU tried to mediate, and failed. And the United States tried to…well, I’ll get to that in a moment. Over the weekend, the Maidan movement in Kiev rejected the agreement reached...
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The Cancer in the Middle of Europe

Posted by on Jun 4, 2013 in Articles, Blog, Eastern Europe, Europe, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe | 15 comments There’s no goose-stepping in the streets. There are no curfews or explicit censorship or martial law. The cafes, in fact, are full of happy, laughing people. Tourists continue to flood the country. If you don’t speak Hungarian and if you don’t speak to Hungarians, you could visit Budapest and believe that you’re in just another beautiful European city. Sure, there might seem to be an...
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Taking It to the Streets (in the GDR)

Posted by on Apr 11, 2013 in Articles, Blog, Eastern Europe, Europe, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe | 0 comments The home movies show a bunch of young kids doing skateboard stunts all around their neighborhood. Without the sound, the action could be taking place almost anywhere. The kids have clothes and haircuts that look like the late 1970s, the town they live in has a prefab drabness. But their goofiness and exuberance is universal. Look a little closer and you’ll see that their skateboards are...
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The Secret History of Yugoslavia

Posted by on Apr 5, 2013 in Articles, Blog, Book Reviews, Eastern Europe, Europe, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe | 0 comments In the 6th century, in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople, the historian Procopius penned an account of the misdeeds of the emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. The Secret History is a compelling account of the court intrigues of a treacherous emperor in a crumbling empire. That Justinian enjoyed a high reputation, the result of the military victories of his brilliant general...
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