E. Wayne Merry is a retired diplomat who served at the US embassy in Moscow from 1990 to 1994. The National Security Archive of George Washington University just published for the first time a dissent cable that he sent in 1994, titled  Whose Russia Is It Anyway—Toward a Policy of Benign Respect. The cable eloquently laid out Merry’s objections to the economic policies (which came to be known as “shock therapy”) that were being collectively pushed by the Undersecretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers, the US Treasury Department, the Economic section of the US Embassy in Moscow, and a coterie of economists from Harvard during the 1990s. What follows is a wide-ranging interview I conducted with Merry on January 7th, 2025. — James W. Carden

In a parting gesture of defiance, the FBI releases a long-awaited document, blotting most of it out. Journalist Aaron Maté explains why the Bureau’s FOIA follies matter

Călin Georgescu tops survey despite allegations that Moscow aided his bid

Defeat, it is said, is a better teacher than success. The US Democratic Party has just suffered a shattering defeat, and desperately needs to learn from it. In the area of foreign policy, at least, this however appears unlikely — at least to judge by two interviews given by outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the New York Times and Financial Times.

In May 2017, the FBI opened an unprecedented counterintelligence probe of President Trump as an agent of Russia. Nearly 8 years later, the FBI continues to conceal the basis for that investigation.

The U.S. imperium is effectively spoiling for decisive confrontations with any power that threatens its crumbling primacy.

Peace on Earth and May God Bless You

Many in the West are not familiar with the works of Alexander Pushkin. They may not even be aware of his existence and this is a real loss for western thinking. Just as Shakespeare is admired throughout the world and not just in Britain, for his lessons are universal and touch all hearts no matter what period or part of the world they were born into, so too does Pushkin partake in and deserve our attention. For those who are not familiar with Pushkin, he is considered the Father of the Russian language.

Joe Biden as Star Wars’ Phantom Menace

Donald Trump enters 2025 with a perceived mandate for change and a doctrine predicated on the mantra “peace through strength.”