2 mins read
The approaching Biden-Harris administration is finding itself saturated by an avalanche of unsolicited advice from the media about what it should do once in office.
By Edward Lozansky
Until the recent news about hacking of U.S. government agencies, which was supposedly done by Russia, practically all the establishment kibitzers demanded the return to America’s world leadership, a role they believe has been lost during President Trump’s term, and warned against resets or summits with Russia, at least while the awful Vladimir Putin is still in charge. In the meantime, Washington should be patient and, while waiting for Mr. Putin’s eventual exit, maintain a limited dialogue in the nuclear arms arena and try to foil the Russia-China entente by playing a modern version of the Nixon-Kissinger game that helped instigate Soviet-Chinese rivalry. Of course, reaching out to the anti-Putin Russian opposition is also a must.
Now, however, the language got much tougher and President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s team has begun discussing retaliation actions, including a possible cyberattack against the rival nation’s own infrastructure. This is despite warnings from many U.S. intelligence officers and experts to be careful because there is no 100% knowledge of all facts.
“The hyperbolic, evidence-free media reports on the ‘fresh outbreak’ of the Russian-hacking disease seems an obvious attempt by intelligence to handcuff President-elect Joe Biden into a strong anti-Russia posture as he prepares to enter the White House,” Ray McGovern and Joe Lauria wrote in a piece via ConsortiumNews.com.
Even before the hacking news, the U.S. conducted a series of rocket launch tests during NATO exercises in Romania, firing long-range missiles into the Black Sea with the capability to hit Russian territory.
All this means that the warnings of growing numbers of influential foreign policy experts who assert that the world is “sleepwalking into nuclear catastrophe” should be taken seriously.
For those of us unwilling to accept the fate of hapless bystanders waiting for doomsday to arrive, why not offer our own unsolicited advice?
5 mins read
April 30th is an important date in American politics. This is the day 100 for the American President in the White House, and all attention will be on the reports of his achievements and failures. But nothing can be more critical than Peace…
6 mins read
Russia’s invasion has made ordinarily outspoken critics of antisemitism wary of criticizing Ukrainian Nazi collaborators
1 min read
Richard Sakwa has for many years been one of the most distinguished and insightful observers of relations between the West and Russia, and one of the leading critics of Western policy. In this talk with Anatol Lieven, director of the Eurasia program at the Quincy Institute, Sakwa discusses his book, The Culture of the Second Cold War (Anthem 2025). The book examines the cultural-political trends and inheritances that underlie the new version of a struggle that we thought we had put behind us in 1989. Sakwa describes both the continuities from the first Cold War and the ways in which new technologies have reshaped strategies and attitudes.
