Sitemap - 2023 - Bruce’s Contradicciones Newsletter

Daniel Levy on the Israel-Gaza crisis and the war risks for the United States

This was the Biden Administration's view of the Russo-Ukraine War all along?

A German peace song, “Die weiße Tauben sind müde”

Richard Haass claims Netanyahu's war aim of "eliminating or destroying Hamas" is unrealistic

The Christmas Truce of 1914 and its relevance in 2023

The Biden Administration's Israel problem

The left-to-right transition phenomenon these days

National history as inspiration and nightmare: Argentina's "El Loco" version

New Phase in the US Politics of the Russia-Ukraine War

The horror show in Gaza continues...

The new phase of the Russia-Ukraine War

Israel-Gaza War: "I woke up this morning, and none of the news was good"

Bernie Sanders slams US support of war crimes by Netanyahu's government

Big Lies That Shape History:

Civilian casualties in the Israel-Gaza War and the risks of a wider war

Inflated claims in foreign policy can lead to some very bad judgment in practice

Kissinger: His legacy goes marching on

Israel-Gaza War is a real war, not an analogy

Democracy worries in the US going into 2024

Richard Haass on the Israel-Gaza War

German mainstream parties imitating the far right on refugee issues

German perspectives on the Israel-Gaza conflict

Fear and some hope in the Israel-Gaza War

Political earthquake with Javier Milei in Argentina

Ukraine's least bad option?

Demonstration reality-check from Roy Edroso

More on Christian Zionism on the politics of Israel-Palestine

Bibi's Pitch to the American public over the weekend

Jake Sullivan's "Foreign Affairs" article on US foreign policy in light of the Israel-Gaza War

"From the river" to political correctness (Netanyahu/Likud version): Comma-dancing over a protest slogan

The recent past and the ugly present of the Israel-Palestine conflict

What are the Netanyahu government's war aims in Gaza?

Hamas charter of 1988: a "where angels fear to tread" look

Getting specific about anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents in connection to the Israel-Gaza conflict

Netanyahu, "Amalek" and religious-fundamentalist politics

RJ Escrow "fisks" Biden's October 18 speech to the nation on the current Middle East crisis

Is the Biden Administration ready to put a cap on the Russia-Ukraine war?

Bernie Sanders calls for pragmatic approaches, Bibi Netanyahu tells Israeli soldiers directly to regard Palestinians as "Amalek"

Israel-Gaza war: what do "apartheid," "settler colonialism," and "genocide" mean in the current context?

Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars: "darkness ahead in both regions" for US policy?

Simon Sebag Montefiore unloads on the Israel-Gaza war and "the decolonization narrative"- while staying remarkably vague on who and what he's talking about

Griping about "the left" and Israel

US Democrats and their chronic difficulty in fighting for their own side

Neglecting the Israel-Palestine peace process for years turned out to be a disaster for the US, Israel, and the people of Gaza

Mitch McConnell on the US stakes in the Russia-Ukraine War

Netanyahu and the current crisis: prospects are discouraging

Hamas, ISIS and ... Benjamin Netanyahu?

Gideon Levy: "The pictures from Gaza are heartbreaking, and they ought to break everyone’s heart"

Israel-Hamas: Intelligence failures before October 7 and the current risks of escalation

Argentine Presidential election Sunday, Oct. 22

American conservaties, Christian Zionism and the politics of Israeli military actions against civilians

Is the Biden Administration trying to restrain Netanyahu from embarking on a disastrous invasion of Gaza?

Before the ground invasion of Gaza

Rethinking the Biden Administration's enthusiasm for new alliance structures

US policy and the Hamas-Israel war at the end of the first week

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine," Ukrainian nationalist narratives, and making important distinctions about grim events

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists warns that belittling the risks of Russian nukes in Ukraine may not be the best idea

About the Canadian Parliament honoring that Waffen-SS veteran ... (2 of 2)

About the Canadian Parliament honoring that Waffen-SS veteran ... (1 of 2)

Only wimps worry about nuclear war! (Wait, say what?!?)

Republicans and aid to Ukraine

What arguments do Republicans make against aid to Ukraine?

Austrian neutrality and Russian gas imports

From MAGA prehistory: Spiro Agnew in Jackson, Mississippi 1969

Michael McFaul visits Bizarro World in thinking about what caused the Russia-Ukraine War

What are the Very Serious People saying about Western policy toward Russia these days?

Vladimir Putin's fear of Western-backed regime change efforts

Poland: the dog that didn't bark (on Ukrainian refugees) begins to growl

European refugee policy: here we go again

Austria's neutrality in 2023

Stephen Walt on practical realities and moral considerations for the US in the Russia-Ukraine War

Reminder: today's self-described Lincoln Project Republicans are, uh, *Republicans*

A clean-shaven rightwing version of German anti-refugee xenophobia

Has John Mearsheimer been frivolous in his analysis of the Russia-Ukraine War?

The 1973 coup in Chile and its continuing echoes

German pro-Russian "influencer" Aline Lipp

John Kenneth Galbraith on financial bubbles

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (12 of 12)

John Mearsheimer on the current prospects for Ukraine in the war

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (11 of 12)

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (10 of 12)

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (9 of 12): Historical and Geopolitical context: 1923-1933

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (8 of 12): Historical and Geopolitical context

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (7 of 12)

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (6 of 12)

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (5 of 12)

Timothy Snyder on banning a Trump 2nd term with the 14th Amendment

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (4 of 12)

Angela Davis on Malcolm X

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (3 of 12)

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book (2 of 12)

Anne Applebaum's "Red Famine" book on the 1932-33 Ukrainian famine (1 of 12)

Rehashing standard talking points on the Russia-Ukraine War

Republicans and UFOs/UAPs

What will the end of the Russia-Ukraine War look like?

Fun with polling: hawkish anti-Russian nationalism edition

Branko Marcetic asks a very relevant question about whether the Biden Administration may be trapped by its own rhetoric on Ukraine

China's economy - including the risks to the world economy from a conflict over Taiwan

Poland in the Europe of 2023

Ukraine: What does the war's endgame look like?

The short Russia-Georgia war in 2008

Michigan's Jocelyn Benson on defending voting rights

Michael Lüders on moralism and reality in the new NATO-Russia confrontation

The Trump indictment and a few thoughts on how we got to this point

Poland, Ukrainian refugees, and the fight to preserve democracy in the European Union

Ezra Klein dips into UFOlogy - and the results are pretty sad

Justice: the Hebrew prophets' version (and Greg Abbott's)

US Ambassador Julie Smith on NATO and the Russia-Ukraine War

Gene Lyons on that obnoxious song people are understandably griping about

Mystery development with now-former Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang

"Who blew up Nord Stream?"

Your daily wars-and-rumors-of-war news: Poland, Russia, Wagner, Belarus

Social Darwinism - no, sociobiology - no, evolutionary psychology - explains why the Woke Mob and Mean Libruls are so wrong about everything!

Does the Biden Administration have a war-termination plan for the Russia-Ukraine War? Maybe.

Timothy Snyder on humiliating Russia while ignoring nuclear war threats

The Unabomber, the infamous eco-terrorist of 1978-1995

The economic calculations around EU and NATO memberships for Ukraine

NATO meeting in Vilnius: Ukraine and NATO

The European Central Bank is planning ... a "digital euro"? Say what?

John Mearsheimer's June 23 update on the Russia-Ukraine War

More Russia reflections after the Wagner Group revolt

Ukraine negotiations: the Minsk Process

Ben Hodges, former general who now works for a defense lobbyist firm, shares his deep analysis of the Wagner incident in Russia last weekend

Jumping to conclusions about the Prigozhin putsch attempt (or whatever it actually was)

Voter suppression: Using direct intimidation

Deutsche Welle report on “The Arming of the American Left”

More on the horror show for refugees in the Mediterranean

How much has the Biden Administration shifted away from neoliberal economic dogma?

Recovering ex-member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans?

Archduke Franz Ferdinand's sudden end and the start of the First World War

Ukraine forever war?

The refugee ship disaster near Greece

Andreas Babler, Austria's new Social Democratic Party leader

China's diplomatic efforts on the Russia-Ukraine War

Surprising win for democracy and the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court

The "Why Are We in ... ?" question, Ukraine edition

Ukraine: separating facts and real trends from "fog of war"

Russia-Ukraine War: loose cannons on the NATO deck?

Chuck Todd loves the debt-ceiling deal - because it's "bipartisan"

The "bipartisan" debt deal: at least Joe Manchin got an environmentally destructive gift in the process

Checking in with John Mearsheimer on the Russia-Ukraine War

Dark Brandon: missing-in-action on the debt-budget hostage deal

European self-defense capabilities and the shifting strategic balance

The political reception of Ukrainian refugees in the US and Europe

Nina Khrushcheva on the state of the Russia-Ukraine War

Ukraine 2014 vs. Ukraine 2023

Emotions, convictions, polarization, and exaggeration in political propaganda

Refugee discussions in the EU stumble along slowly

Poland and Ukraine as suspects in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline bombing

Questioning the New Cold War narrative on the Russia-Ukraine War

Foreign influence and disinformation

Tucker Carlson's departure from FOX News (surprisingly) helps shed some light on the complexity of criticizing the Russia-Ukraine War

Fire over the Kremlin: Ukrainian drone attack? Russian "false flag" operation? Careless fun with fireworks? Parsing the Ukrainian-drones-over-the-Kremlin story

Jake Sullivan and Janet Yellin on ... a "New Washington Consenus"? (2 of 2)

Jake Sullivan and Janet Yellin on ... a "New Washington Consenus"? (1 of 2)

New developments between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh

Cheerleading and war reporting are not the same thing

Roman Edict of Toleration (Edict of Serdica) and Western liberal concepts of freedom of religion

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 30: One real "heritage" of the Lost Cause ideology

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 29: James Meredith

Realist IR Theory, the Russia-Ukraine War, nuclear threats and nuclear deterrence

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 28: Reparations-a complicated project

Disputes over the Orthodox churches in Ukraine

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 27: Again on the American Revolution and abolishing slavery

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 26: Theodore Bilbo and "repatriation" of Black Americans to Africa

Why the Dr. Strangelove approach to the Russia-Ukraine War is problematic

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 25: David Blight on history and memory in Lost Causes past and present

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 24: How the democratic tradition develops

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 23: Lincoln's antislavery democratic heritage (*actual* heritage!)

Left-right alliance in Germany against Western support of Ukraine?

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 22: "Birth defects" of American democracy

Sen. Rafael Warnock's "political" religion

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 21: On "original sin" in US history

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 20: About the pro-slavery part of the American Revolution

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 19: The 2nd Amendment and slavery

Confederate "Heritage" Month, April 18: James Oakes on the 1619 Project (5) - Economics of slavery and claims of originality

Ukrainian grain exports causing controversy in the EU

Confederate "Heritage" Month, April 17: James Oakes on the 1619 Project (4)-Was anti-slavery humanitarian enough?

Confederate "Heritage" Month, April 16: James Oakes on the 1619 Project (3) - Military emancipation in the American Revolution

Confederate "Heritage" Month, April 15: James Oakes on the 1619 Project (2)-White activists against slavery and white racism

Mozart Group mercenaries in Ukraine: Some real Congressional oversight on this stuff might be a good idea

Confederate "Heritage" Month, April 14: James Oakes on the 1619 Project (1)

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 13: Sean Wilentz on Slavery and the American Revolution

Jimmy Carter on America's "endangered values"

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 12: Slavery and white racism evolve

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 11: Major historians questioned some claims of the 1619 Project

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 10: The Somerset (Mansfield) Decision of 1772 and the American Revolution

A Biblical scholar (Bart Ehrman) debates a dogmatic Christian fundamentalist (Justin Bass) over the Resurrection of Jesus, aka, the first Easter

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 9: Fundamental criticism of the American Revolution

New Cold War rhetoric vs. Germany

Confederate Heritage Month 2023, April 8: Mississippi's Gov. Tater Tot proclaims official Confederate Heritage Month

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 7: The Dunmore Proclamation and Black Americans in the American Revolution

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 6: The 1619 Project and the American Revolution

Trump's post-court speech to the cult

Confederate “Heritage” Month 2023, April 5: Northern troops and the end of Reconstruction

Finland joins NATO

Confederate “Heritage” Month 2023, April 4: Language for talking about the Civil War

Confederate “Heritage” Month 2023, April 3: Lincoln as a small-d democrat

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez talks with Xi Jinping in Beijing about the Russia-Ukraine War

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 2: History is about "sides" and taking sides

Confederate "Heritage" Month 2023, April 1: Losers and Winners

Some very relevant questions and observations from William Astore on the Russia-Ukraine War

Prospects for peace negotiations in the Russia-Ukraine War as of the end of March

Secretary of State Blinken on Ukraine territorial negotiations

A critical perspective in the New York Times on the Ukrainian International Legion group

Ukraine and the IMF

Council on Foreign Relations panel on "How Does the War in Ukraine End?"

The Carter Doctrine and the US role in the Middle East

Why US foreign policy needs to take more account of its limits

Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia and the Russia-Ukraine War

Republicans: bad (for the majority) on policy, but good at some basic politics

The new multipolar era in world politics

China's mediation attempt in the Russia-Ukraine War

Three big questions that Congress and the public need to be asking on US policy in the Russia-Ukraine War

Ukrainian Refugees in Europe

China-US Relations get rockier, Russia and China sticking together?

Official US intelligence threat assessment on how Russia views Ukraine

Considering charges of genocide in the Russia-Ukraine War

How effective are the economic sanctions on Russia now?

Russia-Ukraine War geography: Moldova edition

Revisiting the Reichstag Fire, 90 years on

Stephen Walt looks at the risks of the West's triumphalist rhetoric in the Russia-Ukraine War

Chinese Foreign Minister gets a bit caustic about US policies on China and Ukraine

A glimpse back at Ukraine 2014

Can we get serious about Ukraine and the EU?

Anniversary of Stalin's death and the strange life (and afterlife) of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of 1939

Mearsheimer and McFaul on the Russia-Ukraine War

Internal Ukrainian politics and postwar prospects for the country

War termination prospects in the Russia-Ukraine War

February 24: First year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine War

The Russia-Ukraine War, one year in

Politics of war and negotiations (or lack thereof) at the end of the first year of the Russia-Ukraine War

Sy Hersh's claim on the Nord Stream pipeline bombing draws a (weak-tea) rebuke from the EU's (anti-) disinformation crew

Andrew Bacevich on New Cold War triumphalism

News about Russian women going to Argentina to have their babies

Russia says Ukraine is under threat by ... Poland (?!?)

Russia-Ukraine War, differences among Ukraine's allies, peace talks in 2022, and that mysterious Nord Stream pipeline sabotage

Biden's 2023 SOTU (State of the Union address)

Will Russian troops and commanders ever be prosecuted for war crimes in Ukraine?

The Republicans' demands over Ukraine in 2023

Al Franken interviews Julia Ioffe - and indulges in weirdly superficial hawkish fantasies - on the Russia-Ukraine War

Biden's green energy initiative gets the EU's attention

The good (?) ole days of the "unipolar moment"

"Decoloniality" and Ukraine

New "Frontline" documentary on "Putin and the Presidents"

Tanks going to Ukraine as the 12th month of the war begins

Business Week discovers ... Wilhelm Reich?

Germany publicly agrees that Leopard 2 tanks can be provided to Ukraine

German rearmament, the "turning point" for the EU, and the Leopard 2 tanks

Fighters in the Russia-Ukraine War: Russian, Ukrainian, and foreign volunteers/mercenaries

Slavoj Žižek on how to "change our past"

State of the Russia-Ukraine War in early January

How to advocate criminal handling of refugees if you're an Austrian conservative politician

If you ever wondered what "threat inflation" looks like, here's an example

What does a longer Russia-Ukraine War mean for the European Union?

Why the Biden Administration should publicly clarify its war goals in Ukraine

New Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his article in "The National Interest" on Chinese foreign policy