US defense spending fell by 2.0% of GDP when Soviet Russia ended. So we may expect 2.0% more of US GDP spent on defense against Russia's new threat if Ukraine lost. Support for Ukraine since 2/2022 has cost only 0.3% of US GDP. How can any American question the value of this aid?

Re-reading the infamous NYTimes dispatches from Moscow during the Holodomor famine, it's amazing how bad the reporting was. Not only the reporting, but editorial work is markedly bad. Walter Durante was not choosing headlines, yet they are worse than the text itself. Which brings…

In today's #vatniksoup , I'll introduce a South African-American(!) businessman and social media figure, Elon Musk (Elon Musk). He's best-known for being the wealthiest man in the world, running Tesla Inc., SpaceX & Twitter, and for parroting Kremlin's propaganda narratives.

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Current state of the “is there democratic backsliding happening” or “is average democracy going up or down” debate in political science

Really pleased to see that this article has just appeared on Foreign Affairs . It argues that we need to drop the whole notion of 'Great' Powers and indeed that we need to reassess the whole idea of what makes a state powerful. For now there is no paywall foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/theres…

Ukraine should be brought into NATO. Now.

I explain why in my latest for World Politics Review.

worldpoliticsreview.com/nato-membershi…

As Russia preaches denazification, Since 2004 it has covertly partnered & financed Neo Nazi & far-right movements around the world. Following a Neo-Eurasianist strategy popularized by Dugin, these fringe groups are causing division, spreading lies & subverting societies. 🧵1/

An insightful take on the Russian opposition, a performative enterprise at this point. When you measure your success by movie awards and interviews in glamour magazines, protest in the name of your leader's bday seems like a fine idea.

Pleased to say that Lucas Webber and I wrote something that got published for The Jamestown Foundation on the Russian Imperial Movement and its involvement in the widened invasion of Ukraine.

jamestown.org/program/russia…

Hein Goemans and I apply war termination theory (that we've both contributed to developing) to argue that Western calls for peace would prolong the war, and for peace to have a chance, Moscow must be convinced that the West will not abandon Ukraine.

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

From the latest issue of the QJPS: 'Ruling the Ruling Coalition: Information Control and Authoritarian Power-Sharing' by Zhaotian Luo and Arturas Rozenas. A thread.

Join us on May 1 for 'War in Ukraine: Past, Present, and Future', a panel featuring Oleksandra Keudel Oleksandra Keudel, Emma Mateo Emma Mateo, Arturas Rozenas Arturas Rozenas, & Mychailo Wynnyckyj. Moderated by Anastasiia Vlasenko. 12 pm ET in person and on Zoom: jordanrussiacenter.org/event/war-in-u…

Dear New York University, as an NYU student from Ukraine I am highly concerned about your decision to give a platform to Putin‘s apologists like David North.

Transferring frozen Russian reserves would be morally right, strategically wise and politically expedient — particularly with a restive U.S. Congress.

Read our Washington Post Opinions column with Philip Zelikow and Robert Zoellick #Ukraine️ #Russia

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/…

in this post, the Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan threatens Giorgia with invasion. For support, she refers to her “unforgettable friend” Stephen Cohen, who threatened Ukraine. That very Cohen from NYU which name the ASEEES has honored for naming one of its stipendhips

Обожаемый советской и российской интеллигенцией Познер прямо заявил, что в войне виноват Байден.
Плохой Байден не послушал хорошего Путина.

То есть:
1. Насильник орал, чтобы ему не мешали насиловать
2. Полицейский не послушал насильника
3. Поэтому виноват полицейский.

We’ve spent a lot in Ukraine but it’s less than the 2006-2012 era of Iraq/Afghanistan spending, doesn’t involve any Americans getting killed, and seems to me like it’s working better.

These should be universal unspoken rules

Chomsky on Vietnam: stop demanding negotiations, demand unilateral withdrawal of US troops.

Chomsky on Ukraine: US must “stop blocking negotiations”, Ukraine must negotiate how much territory & autonomy it will surrender in exchange for Russia to end the invasion.

intellectual bankruptcy of the security community: instead of rational argumentation and evidence, let's base policy on an orphic letter from 25 years ago written by a guy who 'wore himself thin partying into the night with Russian artists' in the 1930's.