プーチンの賭け

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, U.N. Charter, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin September 9, 2014

Putin wins again? UE sanctions decision of September 5 appears to fall apart; Future of Minsk Protocol peace process in doubt

  See Editorial, “Making Mr. Putin feel the heat of sanctions,” Washington Post, September 9, 2014 (8:07 p.m. ET). The Achievement Represented by the Signing…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, syria, U.N. Charter, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin September 9, 2014

Inside Putin’s Brain—Part III: The Principle of “I make believe, you make believe”, the EU’s New Sanctions, and the Minsk Protocol — with Putin’s (imagined) annotations on full text (in English)

In warfare, as in diplomacy, it is important to try to put yourself in the shoes of your adversary, to try to understand what is…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, International Law, Justice Department, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin September 8, 2014

Finland blocks entry into force of EU sanctions, gravely threatening prospects for peace in Ukraine

UPDATE (September 10, 2014) “Trotz Beschluss gegen Russland: EU drückt sich vor Sanktionen; Die Europäische Union zögert die angekündigten Strafmaßnahmen gegen Russland im Ukraine-Konflikt weiter…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, International Law, Justice Department, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin September 8, 2014

Pacifists and appeasers in EU delay entry into force of new sanctions, undermining hard actions which produced Minsk ceasefire and peace process agreement

Latest News and Opinion See (1) “Sanktionen in der Ukraine-Krise: EU lässt Moskau noch einige Tage,” Der Spiegel, 8. September 2014 (2153 Uhr). Sie sind…

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Barack Obama, Deutschland, European Union, Germany, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, U.N. Charter, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin September 5, 2014

Terms of Minsk ceasefire agreement described; NATO decisions and new U.S. and EU sactions—if not sidelined at last moment—suggest toughening stance toward Putin

Developing Neil MacFarquhar of the New York times has provided an excellent summary of the terms of the ceasefire agreement reached in Minsk today, in…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, International Law, Qatar, Russia, sanctions, Saudi Arabia, self-defense, State Department, syria, U.N. Charter, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin September 5, 2014

Barack Obama’s phantasmagoric world, where the choice of words defines reality

phantasmagoria /ˌfæntæzməˈɡɔːrɪə/, phantasmagory /fænˈtæzməɡərɪ/ n 1. a shifting medley of real or imagined figures, as in a dream 2. a sequence of pictures made to…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, Germany, human rights, International Law, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, syria, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin September 3, 2014

Inside Putin’s Brain: Musings on the Ukraine and what is going on inside his head — Part II

For analysis of Putin’s 7-point ceasefire proposal, EU sanctions decisions, and NATO decisions to be taken in the next few days, see “Putin seeks to…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, European Union, foreign news coverage, France, Germany, History, human rights, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin September 3, 2014

Putin seeks to divide EU to avoid sanctions with Ukraine “cease-fire” proposal; Russian words should be ignored, harsh EU sanctions and hard NATO decisions adopted

Each act of apeasement dishonors those who fought for, and in many cases died for, the freedoms which we now enjoy. For late news and…

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Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin August 30, 2014

Putin’s War: the Russian invasion by regular troops and the West’s response—critical decisions loom (Updated August 30, 2014)

Updated August 30, 2014 Originally published on August 28, 2014 A new round of third-stage (Stage 3) sanctions must be really biting, with immediate effect….

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China, Crimea, debate over the efficacy of torture, European Union, France, Germany, International Law, Russia, self-defense, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin August 29, 2014

U.N. Security Council emergency meeting on Ukraine (August 28, 2014) —- with link to video webcast

On Thursday, August 28, 2014, the United Nations Security Council meet in emergency session at the request of Ukraine to consider the Russian military invasion…

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Barack Obama, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, European Union, genocide, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin August 28, 2014

Russian “Invasion” or Incursion” in Ukraine? Obama and the primacy of words over actions

Barack Obama, as noted here before, places the highest priority on words, and conducting foreign policy through words, not actions. See “ISIS or ISIL? A telling…