See, also, Sally Yates Says She Told White House Flynn Was Susceptible to Blackmail.
Foreign Affairs
Authoritarianism, Foreign Affairs, Putin, Trump
Sarah Kendzior Ponders Foreign Affairs ‘In the Shadow of Putin’
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Sarah Kendzior, an anthropologist with a background studying the dictatorships in the former Soviet republics of central Asia, speaks to Lindsay Beyerstein on Beyerstein’s The Breach podcast: This week on The Breach, journalist Sarah Kendzior joins us to talk about the weaponization of information in Putin’s Russia. The full extent of Russia’s influence on the 2016 presidential election…
Disinformation, Espionage, Foreign Affairs, Putin, Russia
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence: Opening Remarks, 3.30.17
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Foreign Affairs, Kakistocracy, Trump
Britian’s Foreign Minister Uses Van Halen Defense to Justify Trump State Visit
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
There’s a debate in Parliament about whether to extend a state visit to Donald Trump. Trying to mount a defense of a Trump visit, the British foreign minister had this to say about why Trump should be accorded the honor: Boris Johnson tells the House that he believes “both Nicolae Ceausescu and Robert Mugabe have been entertained by…
Foreign Affairs, Mendacity, Putin
Why the Kremlin Lies With Abandon
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
America, Authoritarianism, Foreign Affairs, Language, Liberty, Putin, Russia
‘His thoughts are so correct’
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Consider a letter from Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, autocrat, murderer, and imperialist. Putin recently sent Trump a letter, only a few brief paragraphs, and Trump gave a statement in reply: “A very nice letter from Vladimir Putin; his thoughts are so correct,” Trump said in a statement. “I hope both sides are able to live up to…
America, Authoritarianism, Elections, Foreign Affairs, Liberty, Putin, Russia
Garry Kasparov on Vladimir Putin’s Election Interference and America’s Response
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Garry Kasparov‘s a great hero of mine (and of many millions across the world), not simply for his unquestioned understanding of chess, but even more for his commitment to human freedom and democratic institutions. In the audio interview below, Kasparov speaks about Putin’s manipulation of our recent election. (By the way, Kasparov’s excellent book, Winter…
Foreign Affairs, Military, Russia
Evidence that Russian Military Unit was Behind DNC Hack
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Ellen Nakashima reports that a Cybersecurity firm finds evidence that Russian military unit was behind DNC hack: The firm CrowdStrike linked malware used in the DNC intrusion to malware used to hack and track an Android phone app used by the Ukrainian army in its battle against pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine from late 2014…
Authoritarianism, Crime, Foreign Affairs, Trump, Tyranny
Someone the President-Elect Admires
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines, overseer of a contentious and bloody crackdown on drug dealers and users, boasted on Monday about having personally killed criminal suspects when he was mayor of Davao City. “In Davao, I used to do it personally — just to show to the guys that if I can do it,…
Foreign Affairs, Russia
The Next Secretary of State’s Peaceful & Honest Friends
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Foreign Affairs, Television
Cable News Never Fails to Disappoint
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Federal Government, Foreign Affairs, Government Spending, Military
How Much, and What Kind, of Military Spending?
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
Analysts from five Washington policy institutes[1] have published a joint report asking (1) what should American defense strategy be? (2) what capabilities, investments, and force structure might that strategy require? and (3) what would such a military cost? (The five institutes are not of the same views, with the Cato Institute’s Benjamin H. Friedman notable…
Foreign Affairs, Russia, Sanctions
Our New Partner
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
The Washington Post reports today on the the first fruits of Trump’s foreign policy direction: The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin and President-elect Donald Trump have agreed in a phone call to work to improve U.S.-Russian relations. The Kremlin says that Putin expressed readiness to establish a “partner-like” dialogue with Trump’s administration…. The…
China, Economics, Economy, Foreign Affairs
The Limits of China Under Communism
by JOHN ADAMS • • Comments
A single paragraph from Jacob Soll puts China in perspective: There is no historical example of a closed imperial economy facing large capital-driven, open states and sustainably competing over a long term. That is not to say that China isn’t an economic powerhouse and a remarkable site of energy and potential. It is certainly both.…