Finland and Sweden want protection against Vladimir Putin’s Russia. As we have seen in Ukraine, Putin has expansion on his mind and both Scandinavian nations border Russia. When a NATO nation is invaded, all of the other NATO nations are...
Russia
The GOP anti-Ukraine caucus
There members of the Congress who love Russia. Here is William Saletan at The Bulwark: After years of defending a pro-Putin American president and dismissing Russia’s interference in American elections, Republicans have returned to their old shtick: accusing Democrats of...
Even the devil can quote scripture
Shakespeare was right in the “The Merchant of Venice.” In a Hitler-like rally in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, the site of the 2018 World Cup final, Russian president Vladimir Putin told a gathered crowd of reportedly 200,000 (according to Moscow Police)...
More books to help us understand the Russia-Ukraine war
Harvard University Press offers seven: Stanislav Aseyev, In Isolation: Dispatches from Occupied Donbas Volodymyr Rafeyenko, Mondegreen: Songs about Death and Love Serhii Plokhy, The Frontline: Essays on Ukraine’s Past and Present Yuri Kostenko, Ukraine’s Nuclear Disarmament: A History Karel C....
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to Congress
Watch:...
Report: Russian government tells its media to puff Tucker Carlson
David Corn of the progressive magazine Mother Jones is reporting that the Russian government has urged media outlets in the country to feature clips of Tucker Carlson. Here is Corn: On March 3, as Russian military forces bombed Ukrainian cities...
Christian leaders write an open letter to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill
The letter, was initiated by Jim Wallis of Georgetown University’s Center on Faith and Justice, asks the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to “use your voice and profound influence to call for an end to the hostilities and war...
Andrew Sullivan on the post-liberal Right’s Putin problem
Earlier this week at Current I wrote about the conservative nationalists who love Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and (to a lesser extent to be sure) Russian president Vladimir Putin. These critics of American liberalism are in a tough spot these...
What is happening these days on Russian TV?
A lot of pro-Putin propaganda. Olga Khazan is watching so we don’t have to. Here is a taste of her recent piece at The Atlantic: To get a sense of what Russians are told about the war, I fired up...
What scares Putin the most?
Here is John Nichols at The Nation: A courageous anti-war movement has developed in Russia, filling the streets of cities across the country with demonstrations against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. OVD-Info, an independent media project on...
“They made a desert and called it peace”
Liana Fix and Michael Kimmage explain what Putin is up against in Ukraine and at home. This will not turn our well for him. Here is a taste of their piece in Foreign Affairs, “What if Russia Loses?”: Putin is...
Why some on the Christian Right support Russia
Historian Bethany Moreton explains the links between American conservatives (and conservative evangelicals) and Russia. Here is a taste of her piece at The Washington Post: From 1992 to 1997, a consortium of major U.S. evangelical organizations raised $60 million to bring former...
The meaning of Putin’s invasion. A Cold War historian weighs-in.
Mary Elise Sarotte teaches history at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Here is a taste of her piece at The New York Times: The Russian president has now definitively put an end to the post-Cold War...
Putin the victim
Over at The New Yorker, Masha Green writes, “Even if his hold on power is precarious, he can still convince Russians that the whole world is conspiring against them.” Here is a taste of her piece: An atomized society held...
How are evangelicals responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Part 2
Yesterday we offered a “Bonus Roundup” on how American evangelicals are responding to the invasion. Today we have part two: Dinesh D’Souza, a favorite of conservative evangelicals and the former president of the evangelical The Kings College, is backing Putin:...
The Eric Metaxas Show pushes pro-Putin propaganda. His show is little more than an outlet to promote conspiracy theories
In the episode of The Eric Metaxas Show I have posted below: Eric Metaxas criticizes the “Deep State” for not welcoming Russia into the community of nations after the Fall of communism. He implies that the West is to blame...
Evangelical leaders “face reckoning over praise for Putin”
Here is Steve Rabey at Religion Unplugged: For most of the past century, America’s conservative Christians and conservative politicians were united in the firm belief that the communist USSR — and later, Russia — was anti-American, anti-God and a threat...
Ukraine soldiers on Snake Island will not back down
This is war. Watch: Here is some context....
Zelensky: “This might be the last time you see me alive”
Here is Barak Ravid at Axios: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told EU leaders “this might be the last time you see me alive” during a video conference on Thursday night, two European sources briefed on the call tell Axios. State...
Bonus roundup: How are evangelicals responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
The European Evangelical Alliance says there is “no justification” for Putin’s invasion. National Association of Evangelicals: Former Trump lawyer, court evangelical, and Liberty University Falkirk Center fellow Jenna Ellis smells an opportunity to politicize the invasion: The Russian Evangelical Alliance...