Michael Gentile

Putin's wars are all wars of choice, pursued for imperialist restoration, out of a position of strength and expected impunity. One of Russia's greatest propaganda achievements convincing the bulk of American pundits and IR folks that it fights out of fear, humiliation, and prevention.

wow, just like our considerably less known guy in Norway.

Mind you, it's in a top journal by a person who has almost 20k citations in GS.

Not fresh, but hell...

Ukraine, Mainstream Media and Conflict Propaganda In several recent cases of actual or attempted regime change, Western governments alleged their opponents’ possession of weapons of mass destruction as pretexts for war. Many such allegations are n...

Indeed, the content in this case is waaaay beyond the pale. But fear not, there are other academics who are almost as bad. Here is another piece of 💩. Ket words: "Ukraine crisis" and "mainstream media": www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...

In 2022, definitely a bad sign. But good to give people the benefit of the doubt. Some might write "Donbass" out of a bad habit. Also, there are differences between cases. For example, for me "Odessa" is fine in English owing to the Greek origins of the name. Kharkov and (even worse) Lvov = yuck.

Then there is the additional dimension re: Kyiv in other languages. In Italian, French, Swedish, etc., it's just Kiev (although some might write Kyiv or some variant). And in Estonian: Kiiev. Same Russian origin but still different. Technically, it should become Kõjiv.

(After that, the EB started accepting both forms and I promptly switched)

Agree. The Ru spelling is a minor issue here (though a signal). By the way, I used to write Kiev until ca 2018. Only because it was the only accepted form in English according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

I know... it's just complete nonsense, and somehow it made it on the pages of a Routledge edited book.

The Donbass in 2014: Ultra-Right Threats, Working-Class Revolt, and Ru The 2014 revolt in Ukraine's Donbass provinces had deep roots among the region's industrial workers. Key sources of the uprising included resistance to

Here it is. Absolutely idiotic BS that made it onto the pages of a Routledge publication! www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...

Also, Azov, Bandera, Nazis! Some time ago I read an academic (!) article that claimed something to the effect that the DNR/LNR were created in the interests of the Donbas working class who, on balance, profited from the development.

I like how it's "global capitalism" and not Russia sowing death and injustice in Ukraine. S prazdnikom 8-go marta, dorogie zhenshchiny!

The only thing that can save this weekend is if Sassuolo beats Lazio.

The quetion should be turned the other way: why should European countries ever help the Americans? The way they act is closer to what one would expect from an enemy.

Traitors.

Ugropy?

I guess that is the least they can do for their Iranian allies.

Voronyuk och Voronko funkar också, men Voronov är alltid bättre än Voronin.

btw, if Azerbaijan and Iran go to war, flights between Europe and Asia will stop. Flights can already no longer go through Russia (war) and the Middle East (war), and are hugging through a flight corridor in the Caucasus that would get shut down.

Of course, but they could ... quietly.

which they could, of course, easily get in Ukraine...

Frankly, Iran's been a problem for some time too, but it seems to me that Trump & bibi are attacking for the wrong reasons. They're not hoping to see a democratic government, a friendly autocratic one would be preferable for them. (Enter: shah's son?)

So you think they would want to take part on a land force that invades Iran?

Perhaps the risk of meaningful retaliation is considered lower in regard to Iran.

That I understand, it's your second point that puzzles me too...

Why Lithuania?

The satellite imagery suggests about 10-11k dead, but of course that is a gross underestimate because thousands are buried under the rubble - and russia has hidden them.

Absolutely ridiculous to claim russia cares about civilians, but the 88k figure for Mariupol (and I've heard even higher than that from some sources) is not realistic. 25k is in line with the Mariupol administration's own estimations, and consistent with satellite imagery from graveyards.

Like the Soviet Union immediately after Stalin's death. The next stage is that they turn against each other.