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Archives for April 2022

Inequality
It Goes up but Never Comes Down: What Would It Take to Reduce US Military Spending?

It Goes up but Never Comes Down: What Would It Take to Reduce US Military Spending?

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com) – I have a question for you: What would it take in today’s world for America’s military spending to go down? Here’s one admittedly farfetched scenario: Vladimir Putin loses his grip on power and Russia retrenches militarily while reaching out to normalize relations with the West. At the same time, China prudently decides […]

Bashar al-Assad
Yes, Bucha is a War Crime: Putin Told us who He was in East Aleppo

Yes, Bucha is a War Crime: Putin Told us who He was in East Aleppo

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Russian withdrawal from the small town of Bucha near the capital of Kyiv left behind a raft of murdered civilians in the streets and bombed buildings the way an ebbing tide leaves behind flotsam and driftwood after a violent tsunami. The Russian government is attempting to escape blame for […]

History
The Dangers of Assaulting Fortress Kyiv: The Peril Putin's Troops Now Face was Shown by the Battles of Stalingrad, Grozny, and Mosul

The Dangers of Assaulting Fortress Kyiv: The Peril Putin’s Troops Now Face was Shown by the Battles of Stalingrad, Grozny, and Mosul

Brian Glyn Williams

Brian Glyn Williams (University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth) and Aaron Rawley. Aaron Rawley is Volunteer Personnel Coordinator at the Gore Place Historical Museum, Waltham Mass. Dartmouth, MA (Special to Informed Comment) – At first glance Russia’s widely lambasted thrust from Belorussia down to the Ukrainian capital appears to have stalled due to logistic issues that have […]

Authoritarianism
Facing severe Repression, Russians are turning to antiwar Graffiti

Facing severe Repression, Russians are turning to antiwar Graffiti

Waging Nonviolence

By Colleen Wood and Alexis Lerner | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – It is exceedingly difficult to organize peaceful protests in Russia. Since the Kremlin’s “Special Operation” began on Feb. 24, police have detained nearly 15,000 people across the country in connection with peaceful demonstrations. On March 4, the Kremlin expanded the scope of […]

Human Rights
What are War Crimes?  Ukraine Atrocities and the Likelihood of Prosecuting Putin

What are War Crimes? Ukraine Atrocities and the Likelihood of Prosecuting Putin

The Conversation

By Amy Lieberman, The Conversation, interviewing Abel Escribà-Folch, Alexander Hinton, Joseph Wright and Shelley Inglis | – Russian troops retreated from Kyiv and the nearby town of Bucha in early April 2022, and new horrors of their occupation were revealed. Ukrainian forces found the bodies of at least 410 civilians – among them people who […]

Climate Crisis
White House OMB: Climate Crisis to cost US $2 trillion Each and Every Year in 8 Decades

White House OMB: Climate Crisis to cost US $2 trillion Each and Every Year in 8 Decades

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Timothy Gardner at Reuters has gotten an advance look at a White House Office of Management and Budget document that concludes that by the end of this century, when Olivia Rodrigo would be 100 if she has the long life we wish for her, the annual cost of the climate […]

Russia
Ukraine: are reports of Russian troops mutinying and deserting true? It’s happened before

Ukraine: are reports of Russian troops mutinying and deserting true? It’s happened before

The Conversation

By Natasha Lindstaedt, University of Essex | – Reports have emerged in recent days that Russian troops in Ukraine, stalled in their advance and suffering numerous military setbacks, have sabotaged their own equipment, refused to fight and carry out orders, and even, in one report, run over their own commander. Nato estimates that as many […]

China
No to WW III: Why Russia Fumbled in Ukraine, China Lost Its Way, and America Should Exercise Restraint

No to WW III: Why Russia Fumbled in Ukraine, China Lost Its Way, and America Should Exercise Restraint

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com) – In Western military circles, it’s common to refer to the “balance of forces” — the lineup of tanks, planes, ships, missiles, and battle formations on the opposing sides of any conflict. If one has twice as many combat assets as its opponent and the leadership abilities on each side are approximately equal, […]

Israel/ Palestine
Being There, Being Here: Palestinian Writings in the World

Being There, Being Here: Palestinian Writings in the World

Ramona Wadi

( Middle East Monitor ) – Maurice Ebileeni’s study of Palestinian literary narratives and the imaginings of the Palestinian homeland highlights the need to rethink both. Being There, Being Here: Palestinian Writings in the World takes the reader on a multifaceted journey through land, continents and languages as these intertwine with Palestinian authors’ perceptions, imaginings […]

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