Sometimes the worst gaffes President Biden makes are not the ones in which he forgets the truth, but the ones in which he forgets not to tell the truth, or worse, when he forgets not to tell that he is not going to tell the truth. That’s what Biden did on November 4....
Zelensky Goes to Washington: Some Key Questions
On December 21, President Volodymyr Zelensky went to Washington to meet with President Biden and to address the Congress. The meeting comes at a time when pressure for negotiations and for a diplomatic settlement are intensifying. Both France and Germany have...
Five Statements That Could Change the War
Five statements made over a period of a few days by high level government officials received very little media attention. When combined, though, they produce a pattern that could make headlines. On December 1, French President Emmanuel Macron held talks with President...
The Troubled US-Saudi Relationship
As the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia continues to grow more strained, President Biden keeps arriving at Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s door with gifts to court the kingdom back. And the relationship continues to grow more strained. The...
What Does the US Say About Ukrainian Strikes in Russia?
Recent statements from Washington on Ukrainian strikes inside Russian territory have sometimes seemed confusing and sometimes seemed untrue. On December 5 and 6, Ukrainian missiles struck three Russian air force bases hundreds of kilometers inside Russian territory,...
Not Trusting Russia With a Ceasefire
In recent days, there has been a volley of statements that Ukraine and the West cannot trust that a ceasefire would not be deceptively agreed to by Russia only to use it to fortify itself before violating the ceasefire of convenience. Perhaps the warnings are a...
How the Mainstream Media Misses the Money Quote
On December 1, French President Emmanuel Macron went to Washington for the first state visit of the Biden administration. After the pageantry, presents, hand holding and flattering words of fraternity and solidarity, Macron faced the gathered press. "We will...
How Aligned Is the Atlantic Alliance?
The war in Ukraine is stretching the NATO alliance. The pull is still gentle and the cracks still small. But the potentially endless duration of the war, the economic suffering it has caused in Europe and even disagreements over causes and solutions is stretching the...
The Ukraine War: Cracks in Unexpected Places
As the war in Ukraine grinds on, cracks are forming in unexpected places. The US is mad at Ukraine, Europe is mad at the US and Europeans are mad at each other. The cracks are neither wide nor structural. But they are there, and they are unexpected. The first crack in...
Stoltenberg’s Provocative Pledge on Ukraine’s NATO Membership
At the NATO foreign ministers’ summit in Bucharest on November 29, both the foreign ministers of the member states and the Secretary-General of NATO, General Jens Stoltenberg, renewed NATO’s 2008 pledge to welcome Ukraine into NATO. But Stoltenberg’s...


