No state in the global community should have to earn Russia’s compliance with the law. If the rule of law is not respected, the entire global community becomes as vulnerable as Ukraine is now.
Vladimir Putin has a history of flattening cities in time of conflict. But alleged war crimes in Chechnya and Syria never resulted in charges, let alone prosecutions. Will Ukraine be any different?
Putin often uses words to mean exactly the opposite of what they normally do – a practice diagnosed by political author George Orwell as ‘doublespeak,’ or the language of totalitarians.
The “rally round the flag” phenomenon has been an important fixture of political science. Will voter anxiety over war in Ukraine give president candidate Macron a definitive boost?
Wheat accounts for about 20% of human calorie consumption, and Russia and Ukraine are both major exporters. The war could hit household food supplies in countries as far apart as Egypt and Indonesia.
Western governments’ anti-terrorism strategies are now colliding with public sympathy for Ukraine, and its people’s desperation to fight Russia with any means.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine will have global impacts far beyond the region directly involved in the fighting. Food prices will increase, and the effects will be felt by the most vulnerable.
Lviv is an important Renaissance and baroque urban centre in Eastern Europe, and its two remaining synagogues survived mass destruction in the Second World War.
Is Catherine the Great a source of inspiration to Vladimir Putin? Her actions in Poland throughout her reign are remarkably similar to Putin’s designs on Ukraine.
Military behaviour usually becomes more restrained when troops feel securely in control of a city. That means Ukrainian civilians may bear the brunt of growing Russian military frustration.
A military historian and U.S. Army veteran explains how wars are not easy to win – something political leaders often forget when looking at the calculus of conflict.