RYAN BYRNE WRITES – For the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2021, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has adjusted “The Doomsday Clock.” The clock, which is reassessed annually, is meant to symbolically show how close the world is to man-made destruction, with midnight representing…
Category: Ukraine
RUSSO-UKRAINE: OH HOW THIS BLOODY WAR GOES ON …
RYAN BYRNE WRITES – With the Russian invasion of Ukraine dragging into its eighth month, Russian military forces are growing more and more desperate to bring a resilient Ukraine to its knees. This has forced Moscow to look beyond its borders for new weapons to bolster its beleaguered military. As…
OPINION: HOW THE US, NOT JUST RUSSIA, HELPED BRING THE WORLD CLOSER TO NUCLEAR WAR
This column originally appeared on October 5, 2022, in the South China Morning Post. CLINICAL PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES – To lose one’s sense of decency by raising the threat of nuclear weapons just once – here we’re talking directly to you, Mr. Vladimir Putin – may be dismissed as…
RUSSIA: THE LESSON MIKHAIL GORBACHEV’S LEGACY HOLDS FOR VLADIMIR PUTIN AND XI JINPING
This column originally appeared on September 7, 2022, in the South China Morning Post. CLINICAL PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES – Last week, the last president of the Soviet Union at 91 had to leave us (his wife Raisa had departed in 1999), so it must be said now that a true…
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: EVEN AS ‘TV RAIN’ RETURNS, RUSSIAN MEDIA SITUATION REMAINS GRIM
RYAN BYRNE WRITES – As Russian and Ukrainian soldiers fight one another for control of Ukraine, another battle rages on both inside and outside of Russia: The battle for control of information. In July, the banned television station TV Rain (Dozhd) returned to the airwaves-this time from outside of Russia’s…
EUROPE: RATHER NASTY BILL OF PARTICULARS AGAINST BEIJING
ISMAEL HAMMOUNAÏCHA DÍAZ WRITES – The recent 2022 Madrid NATO Summit offered a sense of how much the world order has changed. If one thing is clear, it is that Putin got the opposite of what he wanted: the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is stronger and more united than ever.…
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: NO ONE, CHINA INCLUDED, WANTS TO SEE THE UKRAINE WAR GOING NUCLEAR
CLINICAL PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES – Major participants in the Russia-Ukraine war, whether involved directly or by proxy, lack agreement about when and how it must end. These varying perspectives result in an unseemly policy scrum, adding more confusion to this humanitarian tragedy. This obscene war, despite the many ways…
U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS: WHY U.S. ARROGANCE, NOT THE RUSSIA-CHINA RELATIONSHIP, IS THE BIGGEST BARRIER TO PEACE IN UKRAINE
CLINICAL PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES – It’s just possible that a favorable diplomatic wind is forming that could alter the trajectory of the storm of war raging over Ukraine, the second-largest country in Europe. Pushing this war out to sea might help clear the gathering clouds of world economic collapse.…
THREAT OF RUSSIAN NUCLEAR ATTACK SHOWS WHY CHINA’S NO-FIRST-USE POLICY SHOULD BE GLOBAL STANDARD
CLINICAL PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES – The topic of nuclear war is no joking matter, but I was rather tempted to cry out “Get me rewrite!” while dipping into my old book on the nuclear arms race. So much is changing now. My published tome had been premised on the…
EUROPE: SELFIES FROM LE PEN AND THE FAR-RIGHT
KIANA KARIMI WRITES – « Vous dépendez du pouvoir russe et vous dépendez de Monsieur Poutine…Vous avez contracté un prêt auprès d’une banque russe… Vous ne parlez pas à d’autres dirigeants, vous parlez à votre banquier Madame Le Pen…Vos intérêts sont liés au pouvoir Russe. » “You depend on Russian…
UKRAINE CONTROVERSY: MAKING THE CASE FOR ICC PROSECUTION OF PUTIN
KIANA KARIMI AND LIAM ROGERS WRITE — What a scene: White, Blue, and Red stripes encapsulate a Moscow stadium with a crowd roaring in cheers and clad in Z’s giving a grand welcome to a celebration of “unity” while awaiting the illustrious dictator himself, President Vladimir Putin. The Russian government…
MEDIA BEAM THE MESSAGE: MURAKAMI’S MOONS FOR THE MISINFORMED
GUEST ANALYST LYRIC HUGHES HALE WRITES — Most Russian experts and military strategists I follow doubted Putin would invade Ukraine. I agreed with their rational arguments, but here we are. I’m reminded of the Haruki Murakami novel 1Q84. The heroine alights from her taxi and gradually discovers that she is…
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH: PARTISAN OR PEACEMAKER?
BENJAMIN BARRETT WRITES – One of the most popular football clubs in the world, Chelsea FC, is currently facing sanctions due to its Russian roots. Roman Abramovich, a Russian oligarch and owner of Chelsea, is suspected of having close ties with Vladimir Putin. According to an Al Jazeera article, Abramovich…
ASIAN STOCK MARKETS: SURRENDERING TO THE HARD REALITIES OF THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
NASER ALMEHSARI WRITES – Asian stock markets have suffered the brunt of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Major markets such as China, Australia and South Korea fell sharply, while Tokyo managed to post a marginal rise and central bank rate hikes accompanied new lockdown notices in different regions of Asia. A sense…
UKRAINE: THIS HELLISH WAR, AS TOLD BY AN AMERICAN LMU STUDENT OF UKRAINIAN/RUSSIAN DESCENT
PRESTIN MCHUGH WRITES – I am a student enrolled in Psychology of Diversity, a course offered at Loyola Marymount University. A recent class topic has been current issues regarding the war between Russia and Ukraine. The course is discussion-based, consisting of ten students, so we are able to get detailed…
UKRAINE: CRISIS CALLS FOR CHINA TO TAKE PART IN A DARING DIPLOMATIC INTERVENTION
TOM PLATE WRITES – It is imperative that the government of Xi Jinping of China continue to edge away from the bleak dark shadow of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine and re-settle itself geopolitically into a better moral place. While it would be presumptuous to offer instructions on how in…