Tag Archives: Cold War
The End of Palestine: Israel Has the Opportunity to Reclaim its Nation
Transnationalists are ideologically incapable of viewing a problem as unsolvable. Their faith in human progress through international law made it impossible for them to give up on the two-state solution. For two decades, pledging allegiance to the two-state solution and … Continue reading
Fidel Castro: Death of a Communist Dictator
“The world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades. Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.” President-elect Donald J. … Continue reading
DNC: The Neocons Come Home Behind The Democrats’ Hawkish Platform
Some Republicans are not unhappy to see them go. As Tom Pauken, former Republican State chairman of Texas, a backer of the non-interventionist view of the GOP, put it, “Let them go back to the party from whence they came.” Continue reading
Trump’s Foreign Policy Speech: Did he Jump into Bed With Putin?
Despite the media buildup for the speech, it’s clear that on the matter of the US-Russian relationship Trump doesn’t represent a real change from the policies of the Obama/Hillary administration. A contest between Hillary and The Donald means the Russians emerge as the winners—no matter who wins. Another Russian reset is in the cards, compounding the American weakness that Trump says he wants to do something about. Continue reading
Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall: A realist perspective
In the West, the “fall” of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 functions as a powerful symbol of the implosion of communism and the end of the Cold War; in Germany it is celebrated as the watershed initiating German reunification. The wall – which the East German communist propaganda apparatus called the “Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart” – was built by the Soviet puppet regime of the “German Democratic Republic” in 1961, primarily to halt the mass exodus of East Germans to the West. The wall was thus a reminder of the real nature of the communist bloc, which was essentially one giant Gulag – stretching from the heart of Europe all the way to the Sea of Japan – and that Marxist-Leninist regimes could not remain in power without terror, coercion, and intimidating border fortifications to prevent the slaves from “voting with their feet” and escaping from the “Socialist Paradise.”
The Ukrainian Crisis: Theory vs. History
John J. Mearsheimer’s geopolitical game theory tells him that the West has provoked Russia into invading Ukraine. Moscow behaves rationally, you see, and Washington should have understood that before it expanded NATO eastward and stepped on the Kremlin’s toes. It is logical and legitimate to defend one’s sphere of interest. Why provoke Moscow?
Defection is not Convergence
Buchanan dislikes the neocons, blaming them for maintaining an assertive foreign policy after the Cold War ended in victory. Apparently, the U.S should have folded its tent and retreated into isolationism, as it did after winning the other two world wars of the 20th century. Those strategic decisions left the country unprepared for the next round of conflict. History shows that all “post-war” periods become “interwar” periods.
Putin’s military moves in Latin America
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said he is seeking to establish a military presence in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. Now with Obama’s weak response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, it may act as a stimulus for Putin’s further imperialistic moves.
Snowden Forever
This is not to cheer the defector but simply to point out that the phenomena undergirding the Edward Snowden case will continue to metastasize predictably, linger painfully, and haunt us into the foreseeable future. Yet, this awful affair affords us an opportunity to have a long, merciless look at the perpetrator, ourselves, and the damages wrought on the nation. Continue reading
Post-Soviet Russia rattles its saber
Post-Soviet Russia is becoming increasingly brazen and provocative. In late April, the Russians and their Belarussian allies conducted war games right on the frontier of Poland (i.e. NATO) and rehearsed a potential war with that country.
The United States and Romania: Security Arrangements and Mutual Interests
STRATFOR is a professional electronic publication that deals with geopolitical issues and global intelligence. Its founder and chairman, George Friedman, is well-informed and aware of contemporary Eastern European affairs.
