Trouble in Trump land? Here is Gabriel Sherman at Vanity Fair: Even as it was happening on Friday, the Oval Office blowup between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was being cast as one of America’s darkest moments on the […]
Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022)
More people will suffer and die in Ukraine because Trump needs his ego stroked
In case you missed it last night, the United States stopped military aid to Ukraine. This is what happens in Trump world when you don’t kiss the president’s ring. More people will die this week in Ukraine because Trump believes […]
David Brooks on the Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Office exchange: “I was nauseated”
Watch:
Did God answer Franklin Graham’s prayer? Evangelicals respond to what happened today in the Oval Office
What an embarrassment for the United States of America. Watch: Some American evangelicals are responding: Did God answer Franklin Graham’s prayer?:
Victoria Amelina’s final book: Looking at Women, Looking at War
The poet who became a war crimes investigator.
If you need a non-political read this weekend: “The Novel and the Dictator”
Okay, it’s not entirely non-political, to be honest. Still, if you’d like to read about Russian politics and the effect on writers, my essay “The Novel and the Dictator” is out in the new issue of Ekstasis Magazine. A taste: […]
Finding the light in Ukraine: Andrey Kurkov
Andrey Kurkov wins a 2024 Zenger Prize.
What’s next for Russia?
All is not well in Russia. The unknown future, however, should worry us even more.
John Burger’s At the Foot of the Cross: Lessons from Ukraine
We’ve seen a lot of repetition of history these past two years.
The source of hope in a violent year
Even if this new year turns out to be a time of fighting, unrest, and discord in this world, we can live in the light of a kingdom that is not of this world – a kingdom that sets us on a path of genuine peace.
Does Speaker of the House Mike Johnson really believe in religious freedom?
Conservative evangelicals like to talk a lot about religious freedom. When they do address this topic, they are usually talking about their own religious freedom–freedom not to bake a wedding cake, or something like that. I am sure Mike Johnson, […]
Fact-checking Trump on “Meet the Press”
In case you missed it, NBC News journalist Kristen Welker began her new gig as host of the “Meet the Press” with a Donald Trump interview. This morning NBC News published a piece fact-checking Trump: “Former President Donald Trump made […]
Victoria Amelina, January 1, 1986- July 1, 2023
On Tuesday of this past week, a Russian missile struck a crowded pizzeria in the city of Kramatorsk, Ukraine. One of those killed was an award-winning writer, Victoria Amelina. Here is an auto-biographical piece she wrote, “Expanding the Boundaries of […]
Belarus, Ukraine, Russia: an eclectic reading list
The events of this past weekend had a number of Cold War and Russian history and politics experts excitedly feeling relevant. What exactly happened and what does it mean? I appreciated this analysis from Tom Nichols at The Atlantic. In […]
Pope Francis on Ukraine
The Pope wants peace in the Ukraine. He opposes Russian war crimes, but is not acting diplomatically on behalf of the West in the way John Paul II did during the Cold War. Over at The Atlantic, John Allen, the […]
Ukrainian mothers who traveled into Russian-occupied Ukraine to get their children back
The war in Ukraine has largely faded from the news of late, but this does not mean that the suffering there is any less profound. An emotional piece in the New York Times this weekend highlights the impact of war […]
Ideas in progress: Amanda McCrina
What is the focus of your current book project? What are the main stories that you hope to tell in this book? My current project is a historical spy thriller set in postwar London, in the run-up to the Victory […]
Historical reflections on civilians and war one year into the invasion of Ukraine
Eleven years ago this month, I had the privilege of co-organizing (with the amazing Nicola Foote, a historian of Latin America and the Caribbean) a conference on civilians and warfare in world history. We eventually published an edited collection of […]
The war in Ukraine and the struggle over cynicism
This Friday, February 24th, will mark the one-year anniversary since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Several posts on this blog this week, therefore, will reflect on different aspects of this war. It’s very curious how negatively some […]
Why do some on the right-wing hate Volodymyr Zelensky?
Here is David French at The Atlantic: “I just want to punch him.” That’s what Candace Owens told her 3.3 million Twitter followers in response to a video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanking Americans for their support in his […]