Section: Institute for Policy Studies (USA)
An Oligarchy Expert Answers Our Questions About Wealth and Empowerment
Ever since the Ukraine invasion provoked sanctions against Russian oligarchs, it seems everyone is asking: Who is an oligarch? And why do Americans feel comfortable employing the term to describe Russian billionaires while many recoil at the thought of labeling U.S. billionaires the same? Could it be the pervasive belief that American...
When the Left Is Right…Far Right
In the twentieth century, the left defined itself as anti-fascist. It was against Franco in Spain, Hitler in Germany, and Mussolini in Italy. During the Cold War, progressive opposed far-right dictators like Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. It mobilized against neo-Nazis in Germany, right-wing militias in the...
The Five Plagues Testing Humanity
Once upon a time, the tutelary gods of nationalism and internationalism met for a chat. They had a superb perch above the clouds. From there, they could see everything happening on the Earth below and they set to arguing, as they so often did. Sophia, the goddess of internationalism, began by proudly pointing to the accomplishments of humanity....
After Putin
A failed military intervention. The genocidal killing of citizens. Economic isolation by the international community. The arrests of anti-war protestors at home and the shuttering of independent media. Any one of these factors could mark the end of an ordinary political leader. Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin has not only weathered these...
South Korea’s New Foreign Policy of One Yes and Two Nos
South Koreans are sorting out the implications of the recent presidential elections. Victorious conservative candidate Yoon Suk-yeol rose to prominence on an anti-corruption agenda and has various plans to shake up the way government functions. He has also pledged to reduce government intervention in the economy, boost incentives for business,...
Biden FY 2023 Budget Puts War Before Human Needs
President Biden’s FY 2023 budget request once again prioritizes violence, the military and war over peace and human needs. But more spending on militarism can’t address the nation’s or the world’s problems. At $813 billion, the President’s request for the Pentagon exceeds even the $782 billion budget that Congress...
Who’s Enabling Putin’s Enablers?
Where would Vladimir Putin be without the Russian oligarchy? Without Russia’s oligarchs, political leaders of the Western world have concluded, Putin would be tottering. Western leaders have made squeezing Russia’s richest a central piece of their strategy to end Putin’s Ukraine cross-border assault. These same Western leaders,...
Ending the War in Ukraine
Vladimir Putin has a very clear strategy for ending his war in Ukraine. He intends to wipe the country off the map. Initially, he’d hoped to do so by seizing Kyiv, replacing the government, and absorbing as much of Ukrainian territory into Russia as he thought feasible. Now, after the resistance of the Ukrainians, he is looking to eliminate...
Say No to a ‘No-Fly Zone’ in Ukraine
As Russia’s war on Ukraine drags on, calls have grown for the United States to impose a “no-fly zone” over the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an impassioned plea for this when he addressed Congress recently. Though President Joe Biden has thus far secured a bipartisan consensus against imposing a no-fly zone, a number...
Russia: A New Start?
It’s winter in Russia, which is not a season for the faint-hearted. The pandemic is still hitting the country hard, with the number of new COVID cases hovering around 20,000 a day, which has cumulatively put the country in the global top five in terms of infections. Under these inauspicious conditions, if you are brave enough to face down...
