by Maia Gemmill | 14 Jul 2007 |
After months of threats, Russia announced this morning that it is officially suspending its obligations under the Cold War-era Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. From a military point of view, this probably isn't all that significant: I haven't seen any one making a serious claim that the Russian Army has the genuine capacity to present a conventional threat NATO and the US.From a diplomatic point of view, though, it represents a new...
by Maia Gemmill | 12 Jul 2007 |
The now independent states that once made up the Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics are often referred to in Russia as the "near-abroad". The meaning of near-abroad, depending on how broadly you want to interpret it, can range from "those areas that used to be part of Russia in our imperial past" to "those areas that really ought to be within our sphere of influence" to "those areas where we have the right to meddle at will"....
by Maia Gemmill | 12 Jul 2007 |
During World War II, teams of scientists raced to build the ultimate weapon: the atomic bomb. This weapon, everyone believed, was so powerful that it would force the Japanese to surrender immediately, eliminating the need for an extremely costly invasion of the Japanese main islands. They built two weapons using two different models: Little Boy, a uranium gun-style weapon, and, just in case the first one wasn't enough, the Fat Man, a plutonium...
by Dan Nexon | 9 Jul 2007 |
I'm scheduled to appear on Canada AM at 7:45am on Wednesday. This is my first television interview, so if any of our northern readers want to let me know how I did, you should tune in. I'll be discussing, of course, Harry Potter.UPDATE: Video here. No Flip4Mac support, though.
by Peter | 7 Jul 2007 |
The very foundations of Western civilization are under attack in France--President Nicolas Sarkozy likes to jog.From today's Washington Post Style Page:On the primary state television channel, France 2, Alain Finkielkraut, a leading French intellectual, recently demanded that Sarkozy give up his "undignified" exercise. Not only did he imply that exposing the boss's naked knees is something that never would have occurred in the time of...
by Rodger Payne | 4 Jul 2007 |
Today is a day that the United States of America celebrates its independence. The Declaration of Independence, which was dated July 4, 1776, contains some of the most familiar political language in world history: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these...
by Maia Gemmill | 3 Jul 2007 |
"The third hearing of my man took place at two o'clock at night; I had previously worked for eighteen hours on end. He had been woken up; he was drunk with sleep and frightened; he betrayed himself. From that time I cross-examined my people chiefly at night....Once a woman complained that she had been kept standing outside my room the whole night, awaiting her turn. Her legs were shaking and she was completely tired out; in the middle of her...
by Maia Gemmill | 2 Jul 2007 |
Update below the fold.After months of diplomatic sniping between the US and Russia, Presidents Vladimir Putin and George Bush are meeting today at the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush has generally invited foreign leaders to his own ranch in Texas, rather than to the Maine compound, which belongs to his father. I have yet to read a compelling explanation as to why he chose Maine over Texas other than the more pleasant...
by Dan Nexon | 29 Jun 2007 |
The BBC reports:US President George W Bush has appealed for people to give his strategy in Iraq a chance - holding up Israel as a model for defining success there.He said America would like to see Iraq function as a democracy while dealing with violence - just as Israel does.Speaking at the US Naval War College, Mr Bush said success in Iraq would not be defined by an end to attacks.His remarks come as members of his Republican party are...
by Maia Gemmill | 28 Jun 2007 |
On Tuesday, I mentioned that second rule of Russia watching is "follow the money". The only problem is that following the money is not easy.I've been asked on occasion whether I think Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of YUKOS oil now in prison for tax evasion and fraud, is guilty or were the charges against him politically motivated.My answer: "Yes."Khodorkovsky gained control of YUKOS in the notorious loans-for-shares auctions, which were...
by Peter | 28 Jun 2007 |
Political leaders have long relied on historical analogies to frame, explain, and justify important policy choices. The current administration is no exception when discussing its policy toward Iraq—the most recent instance occurring when Tony Snow described keeping US forces in Iraq “as we have in South Korea.” Indeed, Iraq has been a war full of analogies: Bush’s father analogized Saddam Hussien to Hitler in the first Gulf War, Rumsfeld wanted...
by Maia Gemmill | 27 Jun 2007 |
The other day, we were discussing Monty Python references, and I volunteered that I had recently started a short piece on the prospects for democracy in Belarus and Ukraine with "Revolutions are like the Spanish Inquisition--no one ever expects them." "Surely that's not true!" our friends protested. "There must be something to predict them.""Well, most revolutions seem to be highly contingent phenomena. You can go back and and pick out the...