Making America Unsafe Again

Posted by on Mar 17, 2020 in Articles, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe | 0 comments Donald Trump is all about boundaries. At a personal level, he doesn’t like touching strangers for fear of infection. Politically, he makes no long-lasting close alliances. And geopolitically, he obsesses over strong borders: big walls, more stringent immigration requirements, tariffs on foreign imports. But Trump is nothing if not a walking contradiction. For a guy who shies away from shaking...
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Putin Proposes, Trump Disposes

Posted by on Feb 9, 2020 in Articles, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe | 0 comments In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin is proposing a new constitution. Meanwhile, in Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump is disposing of the old constitution. The first is a demonstration of power meant to showcase the unity of the Russian political system behind a strong leader. The second is an act of desperation that reveals the deep division of the American political system and the...
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Did the Fall of the Berlin Wall Produce Trump?

Posted by on Dec 5, 2019 in Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe, Uncategorized | 0 comments The Berlin Wall fell 30 years ago. It was one of the few unambiguously joyous moments in modern history. This popular, nonviolent explosion of dissent effectively toppled East Germany’s despotic regime. And it signaled, if only symbolically, the end of the Cold War that had divided Europe for nearly half a century. Thirty years later, a united Germany remains far and away the largest economy in...
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Trump’s Fantasy Ukraine

Posted by on Dec 5, 2019 in Articles, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe | 0 comments In fantasy sports, participants draft their own dream teams out of the rosters of existing players. That’s what Donald Trump has done with Ukraine. He and his advisors have created a fantasy team involving a number of key players, including the Ukrainian president, the former U.S. ambassador, and the former vice president’s son. Then they’ve created a fictitious narrative that brings these...
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Trump’s Undeclared State of Emergency

Posted by on Oct 24, 2019 in Articles, China, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe | 0 comments Trump’s public appeal to China last week to help with uncovering dirt on the Biden family was both a brazen flouting of the law and (it pains me to say) an astute political tactic. “China should start an investigation into the Bidens, because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine,” Trump announced to reporters only moments after saying, about trade talks...
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The New Age of Protest

Posted by on Oct 5, 2019 in Articles, China, Featured, Russia and Eastern Europe | 1 comment Led by young people, climate strikers blocked traffic on two mornings at the end of last month in Washington, DC. On the first day, protestors chained themselves to a boat three blocks from the White House, and 32 activists were arrested. On the second day, activists targeted the EPA and Trump International Hotel. It was a not-so-subtle suggestion to commuters stuck in their cars on those...
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