Between a Self-Questioning Europe, a Self-Assured Russia, and a Hapless Ukraine: How American Armed Forces Became NATO’s Foreign Legion
Speaking to students in St. Petersburg last January, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the Ukrainian army “is not an army, but a foreign legion, in this case a foreign NATO legion.” For going on three decades now, Russia and her apologists have used that term—NATO’s foreign legion—mostly to deride ...
Why Ukraine Struggles to Reform
Listening to the proclamations of Ukraine’s political leaders, one might think the country is in the midst of rapid institutional reform. The country’s president, Petro Poroshenko, declared on June 4 in his annual message to parliament that “reforms are the key word…The countdown of the period of reforms has ...
Is the World Getting Safer — or Not?
A glance at any major newspaper gives the reader an impression of global chaos, with raging conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Nigeria and Yemen. The crisis in Ukraine suggests that the potential for a serious conflagration over borders in Europe still exists. Others argue that we really live in ...
ISIL Revenues: Grow or Die
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is the ultimate predatory state. It has been able to obtain vast amounts of financial and other resources in a relatively short period of time by theft or extortion. However, its revenues are mostly unsustainable. As a result, like other ...
