international relations 
-
6/19/2022
Russia's Justifications for Invasion Don't Hold Up Any Better Now than in February
by Lawrence Wittner
The alleged threat of Ukraine's NATO membership, supposed "denazification" and claims of cultural unity all fall flat; none excuse Russia's violation of Article 2 of the United Nations Charter.
-
SOURCE: The Atlantic
6/11/2022
Biden Needs to Frame Ukraine Goal as Securing Sovereignty, not Democracy
by Stephen Wertheim
An American pledge to the defend principle of sovereignty will attract more allies into a coalition than a promise to defend democracy, especially since, prior to the Russian invasion, Ukraine's standing as a democratic state was tenuous.
-
SOURCE: National Interest
6/4/2022
Security Studies Scholar: NATO Must Push Ukraine to Negotiate End of Hostilities with Russia
by Hugh DeSantis
The US and NATO must use the leverage of arms supplies to push Ukraine to negotiate with Russia or risk an interminable – and wider – conflict.
-
SOURCE: NPR
4/22/2022
Sergey Radchenko: War Will Continue Until Russia "Cannibalizes" Ukraine
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Sergey Radchenko, a Russian history professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, on what's behind Putin's shift in the focus in the war on Ukraine.
-
SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
4/18/2022
Is International Cooperation Possible?
by Tiziana Stella and Campbell Craig
The United Nations system, based on the sovereignty of nations, is increasingly inadequate to the global problems facing humanity. There are other international traditions that can guide a better world order.
-
SOURCE: TomDispatch
4/3/2022
Understanding "Correlation of Forces" in Ukraine Counsels Caution for the US
by Michael Klare
Ukraine is a reminder of the significance of intangible factors in assessing military outcomes, and a warning against rash action in anticipation of success.
-
4/3/2022
Who Speaks for the World when Great Powers Flex Their Muscle?
by Lawrence Wittner
"Are the people of the world condemned to live forever under the heels of the great powers? Or is it still possible to take another step along the road to a peaceful, humane planet?"
-
SOURCE: Jewish Currents
3/24/2022
Stephen Wertheim on Danger of Escalating a Cold War with Russia
by David Klion
"This is a tragedy, and Vladimir Putin is mainly responsible for it, but the world that will emerge from this war in Ukraine will be poorer, more divided, and more heavily armed."
-
SOURCE: Foreign Policy
3/28/2022
Madeleine Albright Had Warned the World about Putin
Madeleine Albright's path to being Secretary of State began with her experiences fleeing Prague twice – to escape both Nazism and Stalinism.
-
SOURCE: The Economist
3/24/2022
Oxford Scholar Challenges "Realist" Assessment of West's Role in Russia's Invasion
by Adam Roberts
While the propsal to include Ukraine and Georgia in NATO was undoubtedly viewed unfavorably in the Kremlin, there are too many factors involved to make it a sufficient explanation for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
-
SOURCE: Democracy Now!
3/21/2022
Alfred McCoy: Ukraine War May Birth New World Order
The historian of international relations predicts that the Ukraine invasion and NATO's response will have the effect of tying Russia and China together in an alliance that will reshape the dynamics of international relations, trade, and military power.
-
SOURCE: The.Ink
3/17/2022
Can the US Stand up for Ukraine Without Starting World War III?
Historian of America in the world Stephen Wertheim and Anand Giridharadas discuss the invasion of Ukraine and the way that American policymakers are wrestling with the limits of American power against a nuclear rival.
-
SOURCE: War on the Rocks
3/11/2022
Is the West Laissez-Faire About Sanctions?
If economic sanctions become a replacement for military force in international conflict, they also risk becoming a normal part of nationalist economic policy that escalates international rivalry as a feature of the global economy.
-
SOURCE: The Atlantic
3/10/2022
Nicholas Mulder: When Sanctions Work – And Don't
The economic historian argues that broad sanctions, like suspending Russian access to PayPal and other internet banking, may alienate the civilians necessary to put political pressure on the Kremlin, while also disrupting energy and food markets in ways that will be difficult to predict.
-
SOURCE: TomDispatch
3/10/2022
The Geopolitics of the Russia-Ukraine War
by Alfred McCoy
Since the Versailles conference in 1919, geopolitical theorists have discussed the potential of anl alliance connecting eastern Europe and central Asia as a potential seat of world domination. Are recent developments in Russian-Chinese relations moving in that direction?
-
SOURCE: New Statesman
3/8/2022
John Mearsheimer and the Dark Origins of Realism
by Adam Tooze
The vitriol aimed at Mearsheimer's diagnosis of the Russia-Ukraine conflict transcends academic debate and points to the liberal west's frustration at how little it can actually influence Russia. It's a missed opportunity to reflect on the roots and influence of his realist philosophy.
-
SOURCE: The Economist
3/4/2022
Russian Sanctions a "Watershed" Moment in Global Economic History
by Nicholas Mulder
"Sanctions are no longer scalpel-like instruments that exploit globalisation. At their current scale, they are a tempest that will change the nature of globalisation itself in major ways."
-
SOURCE: Washington Post
3/3/2022
Can Europe Run Its Own Defenses While the US Shifts to China?
by Stephen Wertheim
European nations can't gamble that the US will be able to support their collective defense in the coming decades, and the United States should encourage the shift spurred by the Ukraine invasion for Europe to take the lead.
-
SOURCE: The New Republic
3/4/2022
American Pundits Can't Resist "Westsplaining" Ukraine
by Jan Smoleński and Jan Dutkiewicz
"For Eastern European scholars like us, it’s galling to watch the unending stream of Western scholars and pundits condescend to explain the situation in Ukraine and Eastern Europe."
-
SOURCE: New Statesman
3/2/2022
The World is at Financial War
by Adam Tooze
Ukrainian resistance to invasion has affirmed its sovereignty, pushing NATO nations to take actions that would have been politically difficult before, including imposing economic sanctions as a clear instance of taking sides in the conflict. But it's clear those nations are thinking hard about the limits of aid.
News
- One Absurdity of Texas's Divisive Concepts Law? Call to Rename Slave Trade as "Involuntary Relocation"
- 3 Law Profs: Connecting Abortion and Voting Rights at SCOTUS
- The Other Cancel Culture: A University Administration Caves to a Conservative Crusade
- Unserved Warrant for Carolyn Bryant Donham's Arrest in Till Lynching Discovered in Box in Courthouse Basement
- 1989-2001: America's "Lost Weekend" When the Nation Blew its Shot at Peace and Prosperity