occasional reflections on culture & politics
Let’s just make one thing clear: What is happening in occupied Ukraine, what happened in 2014 in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, cannot be called referenda. They are fake. They are not elections. They are nothing but a performance of voting, but no actual voting is taking place. For an election or referendum or vote to… Continue reading #195: Fake “Referenda” Prove that Putin Doesn’t Want to Negotiate
President Putin is working hard to weaken Russia. During the last decades, he has almost completely destroyed the last remnants of Russian democracy. Instead, he has built a system built on lies, repression and violence. Proudly, he announces that Russia is returning to old strength, that the Russian people are experts at suffering, and that… Continue reading #178: Russia Deserves Better
What a funny sight: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov did fly to the G20 meeting, held some talks with country representatives that are less critical of Russia (in order to promote their own self-interest), and departed before being able to meet and listen to any of the critics. This, again, demonstrates that Russia has no… Continue reading #173: Putin and Lavrov Demonstrate the Weakness of Today’s Russia
It seems that virtually everybody agrees that sanctions are not working, and that we should reconsider as they obviously have not yet stopped the war against Ukraine. And it certainly is true that right now, Russia seems undeterred. But we need to look a little deeper and listen to what Russia is actually saying. Before… Continue reading #170: Sanctions Against Russia Are Working – And Need to Be Even Stronger
Henry Kissinger reminded us recently that Realpolitik means to make a compromise with a “great power” like Russia. Specifically, that compromise was supposed to respect Russian claims and restore the “status quo ante” before the most recent attack – thus codifying the theft of Crimea and parts of the Donbass. Such a statement clearly ignores… Continue reading #165: Realpolitik Is About Appeasing Power, not Reality or Morality
There can be no doubt that Putin’s genocidal war against Ukraine needs to be stopped. Sanctions may be a tool to make the war too costly, but they will take time to work. We all know that. In recent days, we have seen that in addition to the official sanctions and denunciations of Putin and… Continue reading #154: Against Putin: Yes. Against Russia: No.
Now we know Putin was lying all along. I must admit, I am surprised, I would not have thought this was coming, not like that. The pattern is clear now: Putin has for planned this for many years. He has rebuilt Russia into a fascist state – centered on military, mafia, state-controlled business, using the… Continue reading #144: Putin’s War Against Ukraine Is a War Against All of Us
Erratic Attempts 