Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine
The Abandonment of the South Lebanon Army: A Moral and a Strategic Failure
South Lebanon Army memorial in Marjayoun, later destroyed by Hezbollah, photo via WikipediaBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,579, May 24, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: With the May 2000 abandonment of the South Lebanon Army, Israel signaled to its regional allies that it is not a reliable mainstay. This influenced the lukewarm response of the Golan...
The Minsk Conundrum: Western Policy and Russia’s War in Eastern Ukraine
22 May 2020 The Minsk agreements rest on two irreconcilable interpretations of Ukraine’s sovereignty: is Ukraine sovereign, as Ukrainians insist, or should its sovereignty be limited, as Russia demands? Instead of trying to resolve an unresolvable contradiction, Western policymakers should acknowledge the starkness of the Minsk conundrum....
The CIA’s Murderous Practices, Disinformation Campaigns, and Interference in Other Countries Still Shape the World Order and US Politics
In the weeks before the 2016 presidential election, the most powerful former leaders of the Central Intelligence Agency did everything they could to elect Hillary Clinton and defeat Donald Trump. President Obama’s former acting CIA chief Michael Morrell published a full-throated endorsement of Clinton in the New York Times and claimed...
The Return to the Era of Spheres of Influence in Eurasia
Map of Eurasia in a 1936 textbook, photo by Bryan Costin via Flickr CCBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,575, May 21, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Geopolitical trends of the last two decades show that pivotal states in Eurasia are working to recreate their zones of influence. In so doing, they are challenging the US, which implies a corresponding...
Annexations in the West Bank: Europeans need to punch their weight
In the coming weeks, crucial decisions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are likely to be made. After three rounds of elections and difficult tactical manoeuvres, a coalition government under Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in last week. The coalition agreement between the main partners – Likud, and Blue and White – stipulates that, as of 1 July,...
Iran’s Nuclear and Military Efforts in the Shadow of Coronavirus and Economic Collapse
Iraj Harirchi (left), Director of Iran’s National Center for the Fight Against Coronavirus, showing signs of infection at press conference on Feb. 23, 2020, photo via Wikimedia CommonsBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 1,568, May 17, 2020 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Notwithstanding the difficult challenges of the coronavirus crisis and a...
Laying Waste To The American Economy And The Doctors’ Plot
Today the Wall Street Journal has a story on how the debt-ridden households of America are coming to the end of their ropes. But its MSM narrative for the default calamity now gathering a ferocious head of steam could not be more ass-backwards: Lenders are declining to defer payments for some borrowers who were behind on their payments before the...
Twin Pillars of Russiagate Crumble
House Intelligence Committee documents released Thursday reveal that the committee was told two and half years ago that the FBI had no concrete evidence that Russia hacked Democratic National Committee computers to filch the DNC emails published by WikiLeaks in July 2016. The until-now-buried, closed-door testimony came on Dec. 5, 2017 from Shawn...
Does Trump know his own government indirectly bankrolls some key promoters of the ‘Russiagate’ hoax?
US President Donald Trump was elected on a promise to “drain the swamp.” Almost four years later, the Washington think-tank racket is as murky as ever, and the gravy train keeps rolling. The false “Trump/Russia collusion” narrative has been dead for so long now that it’s hard to remember what killed it, whether it was the...
The Worst Is Yet to Come: Contact Tracing, Immunity Cards and Mass Testing
“The things we were worried would happen are happening.”—Angus Johnston, professor at the City University of New York No one is safe. No one is immune. No one gets spared the anguish, fear and heartache of living under the shadow of an authoritarian police state. That’s the message being broadcast 24/7 with every new piece of government...