Ukraine's elections have not solved the crisis
The Ukrainian government needs to build bridges with the pro Russian minority if it wishes to reunite the country. Democracy does allow the majority to have its way, but democracy also entails the majority being reasonable towards the minority
- 27 October 2014
Vanity, the vain, and sanctions against Russia
If the West had any real meaning these days things might be different. But the so-called sanctions regime against Russia is a fly in the ointment and nothing more for wily, but flawed, Vladimir Putin
- 5 August 2014
Putin's useful idiots: on Right and Left
Misguided ideology on both Left and Right in Britain is shoring up Putin's position. When Stalinists and democratic eurosceptics are on the same page, it's surely time for a re-think
- 29 July 2014
As America retreats, the world goes to hell
The flame of democracy, in whose defence America has invested so much blood and treasure, is being left to flicker and die on Obama's watch
- 28 April 2014
Europe cannot do without Putin's gas
It will be another decade before the Continent can substitute the product of American fracking for Russian energy piped via Ukraine
- 12 April 2014
Puny Putin
Russia may dominate world maps, but it is an economic pygmy compared with the developed nations as a bloc
- 9 April 2014
Obama’s Kantian fantasy
Considering both domestic and foreign policy, is it actually possible to be worse than Barack Obama? In Cairo in 2009 he championed a different American foreign policy in the Middle East. If by ‘different’ he meant ‘disastrous’ then things seem to be going as planned
- 5 April 2014
Putin the latest stick to beat Farage with
The latest establishment propaganda is to present Farage as some kind of populist fascist whose hero is Putin the neo-Nazi. Frankly, it's tiresome
- 1 April 2014
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: West ‘Provoking’ Russia?
How do you take calculated risk when dealing with a country like Russia? Do you take the Kremlin on or do you try and avoid eye contact? Either way, there are consequences
- 27 March 2014
Putin's failed, criminal state won't be a hyperpower
Don't get too excited about the new Russian empire. It's going to be a moth eaten bunch of corrupt dictatorships who are only good at oppressing and impoverishing their people
- 25 March 2014
Vladimir Putin, Crimea and ‘Double Standards’
The question now is simple. Does the Kremlin plan to extend this policy into other parts of Ukraine and/or other parts of the former Soviet Union, including countries now in both the EU and NATO?
- 21 March 2014
Putinomics is killing Russia and will kill Crimea too
Putinonomics is a sordid mix of cronyism, regulation, corruption, and weak rule of law. Post-communist countries that chose western-market models have fared far better as the graphs (below) dramatically illustrate
- 17 March 2014
Ukraine: In 200 words,drop the fantasy. Here's the deal
The almost unbelievable incompetence of the Western media leaves one speechless. Except this: Russia has annexed Crimea. Get used to it. You wanted Barack Obama. Accept the consequences
- 6 March 2014
Small war in the Crimea; nobody hurt?
Apart from gestures and hand-wringing, the West won't and can't do a damn thing about Crimea and Ukraine. For Putin, it's as much about diverting attention from the disaster at home as anything else
- 5 March 2014
Putin vs Obama: No contest, no kidding
Putin understands power; Obama does not. Obama thinks rhetoric can be a substitute for action; he is also consumed by a misperception of the U.S. role in international affairs. Putin, a former KGB colonel, is running rings around him
- 4 March 2014
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