Section: Research Organizations & Think Tanks about Ukraine
Decoding Flynn-gate: Russia, the Middle East, and the US Elections
US Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in Washington D.C. on Feb. 4, 2014. (US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Lovelady, via US Department of Defense)BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 418, March 6, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The FBI has concluded that ousted National Security...
Mystery Surrounds Blockade Forcing Kyiv’s Hand
With only “a little more than 100 men” among the blockaders, according to Semen Semenchenko, a lawmaker and former volunteer-battalion commander who supports the blockade and is the voice behind the livestreamed video, many have questioned the initiative’s grassroots narrative. In particular, they question how it has managed to...
Blogger fined for saying the USSR invaded Poland in 1939 takes Russia to Court in Strasbourg
Russian blogger Vladimir Luzgin has asked the Court in Strasbourg to defend his right to state quite correctly that both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland in 1939. He was left no alternative after Russia’s Supreme Court agreed that this unpalatable truth constituted ‘rehabilitation of Nazism’. …read more Source:...
The Voice of European Business Must Be Heard Loud and Clear by Brexit Negotiators
We are now potentially only weeks away from the triggering of Article 50. This all-important section of the Lisbon Treaty sets out the process by which a member country can leave the EU. No country has ever left the EU before and some experts are predicting a ten-year timeframe to negotiate a new trade deal: In this case, the UK Government has...
Turnbull rounds on Pauline Hanson
Malcolm Turnbull has slammed Pauline Hanson’s views on vaccination after the One Nation leader accused the government of “blackmailing” parents with its no-jab-no-pay policy. He also rejected Hanson’s admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, which came with her questioning Putin’s culpability over the downing of Flight...
How Likely Is an Irrational US Presidential Order to Use Nuclear Weapons?
Nagasaki bomb, via WikipediaBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 417, March 5, 2017 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: There is no scientifically valid way to predict US presidential irrationality. Nor is there any analytically acceptable way for an American president to foretell the nuclear outcomes of any considered policy decision. There is another, less...
How to Partner With Putin
Improving relations with Russia, a priority for President Donald Trump, is a worthy goal. He could make progress by seeking to partner with Russia on some issues, like North Korea, while keeping up heat on others, such as aggression in Ukraine. …read more Source:...
Last jailed Crimean Tatar activist freed, repression continues
Jailed Crimean Tatar activist Marlen Mustafaev has finally been released, 6 days after the 10 friends and neighbours imprisoned for standing outside his home in solidarity with the detained activist and reporting on the search underway. The mass detentions on Feb 21 and absurd sentences upheld at farcical court hearings marked a new, disturbing...
BackChannels News Day, March 4, 2017
Today’s compilation may be light – what am I even doing here at the computer, and so early? Still, my eyes see a lot of political coverage from around the world having to do with the support of democracy and its liberal humanist values. This kind of post has had its own category on BackChannels for years, but has not been a staple for the...
The Kremlin’s Balkan Gambit: Part I
This is part I of out joint investigation with the Russian investigative magazine The Insider into a series of active measures, hybrid warfare and false-flag operations in the countries of the Balkans that appear to have been orchestrated by Russian individuals in close coordination with the Kremlin. You can read the Russian version of this part...
