Ted Snider

On March 20, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a CNN interviewer that he personally requested the leaders of NATO members "to say directly that we are going to accept you into NATO in a year or two or five, just say it directly and clearly, or just say no. And the response was very clear, … Continue reading “The Back Door to NATO”

In his September 21 address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Biden said "We do not seek a Cold War. We do not ask any nation to choose between the United States or any other partner.” It took a lot of courage to make that claim. On October 5, OPEC+ announced that they were … Continue reading “Choosing Sides in the New Cold War”

Up until now, the heated question has been about who is responsible for starting the war in Ukraine. Biden and the West call the war "unprovoked" and apportion all the blame to Russia; Putin and his partners say NATO expansion provoked the war and apportion all the blame to the US and NATO. There is … Continue reading “Who Stopped the War in Ukraine?”

A recent series of escalations has brought the war in Ukraine to a dangerous moment that necessitates an equally dramatic change of diplomatic course and push for negotiations for peace. The current round of dangerous escalations began with the unmasking of the level of US involvement in the war: a level so great that it … Continue reading “Stop the Dangerous Escalation of the War in Ukraine”

In September, North Korea passed a law that, for the first time, declared itself a nuclear weapons state that will "never give up" its nuclear weapons. On October 3, North Korea fired a ballistic missile over the northern territory of Japan. It didn’t necessarily have to unfold this way. According to the Arms Control Association, … Continue reading “North Korea: An Opportunity Missed”

This horrible war that could have been avoided, shouldn’t have been launched and could have been ended early through a negotiated settlement has reached an unimagined brink. The major parties to the war, Russia, Ukraine and the US, can continue on the path of escalation and go over the brink, or they can start to … Continue reading “If Kennedy Hadn’t Listened to Khrushchev”

On September 27, referendums on joining Russia in the Donbas republics of Donetsk and Luhansk and in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts were completed. The referendum in Donbas, which has already declared its independence, asked "Do you support the entry of the DPR into the Russian Federation as a subject of the Russian Federation?" In … Continue reading “Referendums and Joining Russia”

On September 21, President Biden addressed the United Nations General Assembly. Taking Territory by Force Biden opened his address by accusing Russia of violating "the core tenets of the United Nations Charter – no more important than the clear prohibition against countries taking the territory of their neighbor by force." He is quite right that … Continue reading “Fact-Checking Biden’s UN Speech”

As early as the end of April, Russia’s view of the war may already have begun evolving from seeing it as a regional war to seeing it as a wider war with the US and NATO. At that time, the voracious provision of weapons combined with training and real-time intelligence on targeting led Russian foreign … Continue reading “Russia’s Evolving Attitude Toward the War”

As a child growing up in Leningrad, Vladimir Putin lived in a run-down five-story building. He and his parents shared an apartment with two other families. The yard was filled with garbage, and the garbage was filled with rats. "Putin and his friends used to chase after them with sticks, until one day a large … Continue reading “Putin: Lessons From Childhood”