Conflicts of Interest

December 22, 2021

On COI #202, Kyle Anzalone discusses how President Joe Biden’s effort to create a ‘Democratic’ bloc of countries is dividing the world into camps. The camps are not “democracy” versus “autocracy” as Biden claims. Rather, the divide is between the current American-led order and countries seeking an independent foreign policy. Kyle breaks down the latest […]

Natylie Baldwin

December 21, 2021

Considering that this is a memoir of a woman whose claim to fame is being a Russia expert and a celebrated biographer of Putin, I was expecting substantive discussion of contemporary Russia to be a significant part of the book. That was not the case, however, as her real experience with Russia seems to have […]

Gilbert Doctorow

December 21, 2021

The opening remarks Sunday night by Dmitry Kiselyov on Vesti Nedeli, the widely watched weekly round-up of news from Russian state television, minced no words: “Russia has made a proposal to the United States which it cannot refuse. The moment of truth has arrived.” He was referring, of course, to the draft treaties on mutually […]

Daniel Larison

December 20, 2021

Fred Kagan is on the warpath as usual: Americans and Europeans must understand that Ukraine’s independence is of vital import – for ourselves as well as Ukraine – and must act accordingly. That is also the best way to deter Putin. Kagan’s column is as wrong as can be, but it is useful as a […]

Walt Zlotow

December 16, 2021

As expected, U.S. Defense Chief Lloyd Austin III, ruled out any punishment for personnel involved in the drone attack that killed Afghan aid worker Zemari Ahmadi, 7 kids and 2 other innocent adults in Kabul August 29. The attack came 3 days after a suicide bombing killed 183, including 13 Americans, at the Kabul Airport […]

Conflicts of Interest

December 16, 2021

On COI #201, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman cover the latest on the JCPOA talks, Tel Aviv’s efforts to sabotage diplomacy, and Joe Biden’s efforts to placate the Israelis. Connor reports on the Americans’ unfair criticisms of Iran. They say Tehran’s delegation in Vienna is not taking the indirect negotiations seriously. The Europeans regurgitate the […]

Aaron Maté

December 15, 2021

From The Grayzone: Pushback with Aaron Maté New reports explore how the OPCW suppressed findings that undermined US-led allegations of a chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria in April 2018. Dr. Piers Robinson and Aaron Maté discuss the latest revelations on how the OPCW censored science. Senior OPCW officials doctored the original report; erased the […]

Brett Wilkins

December 15, 2021

Peace advocates on Monday responded toa report about a U.S. military unit that killed Syrian civilians at 10 times the rate of similar operations in other theaters of the so-called War on Terror by accusing the United States of hypocritically sanctioning countries while committing atrocities of its own, and by reminding people that there is […]

Brett Wilkins

December 14, 2021

In a continuation of a long history of impunity for U.S. troops who harm noncombatants during wartime, the Pentagon said Monday that none of the military personnel involved in an unmanned aerial drone strike that killed 10 civilians – seven of them children – during the final days of the war in Afghanistan would be […]

Daniel Larison

December 13, 2021

Matt Yglesias embraces the hypocrisy of Biden’s democracy summit and calls for even more of it: The fight for democracy is too important to conduct on ideological grounds alone; to win, the US will need an appropriate amount of realpolitik. America can say it cares about democracy – and actually take steps to protect and […]