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Barack Obama, Crimea, Crimes Against Humanity, Deutschland, Egypt, France, Germany, History, International Law, Iran, Iraq, Middle East, NATO, Russia, sanctions, syria, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes September 24, 2015

Obama-Putin meeting at UN: The resurgence of pacifism and appeasement toward Putin and Russia in Europe and the U.S.

See Julia Smirnova, “Die wundersame Rückkehr des Wladimir Putin In der New Yorker UN-Woche drängt Putin ins Zentrum der Weltbühne. Durch die aktive Rolle im…

coverage of foreign events, Crimea, Dictatorship, Dimming Vision of World Affairs, electronic curtain, extrajudicial execution, foreign correspondents, foreign news coverage, freedom of speech, Google, Google filtering, Google indexing, History, human rights, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, Russia, Ukraine, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes March 19, 2015

REPRISE: After disappearing act, Vladimir Putin remains prime suspect in Nemtsov assassination

After disappearing act, Vladimir Putin remains prime suspect in Nemtsov assassination Originally published on March 17, 2015 See (1) Nemtsov assassination represents a stark warning…

coverage of foreign events, Crimea, Dictatorship, foreign correspondents, foreign news coverage, freedom of speech, human rights, internal supporters of human rights, Russia, sanctions, targeted assassinations, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin March 17, 2015

After disappearing act, Vladimir Putin remains prime suspect in Nemtsov assassination

Developing See (1) “Ukraine Update: Overview and signficance of the continuing Russan invasion »Nemtsov assassination represents a stark warning to the opposition: ‘Criticize Putin, especially…

Dictatorship, extrajudicial execution, internal supporters of human rights, International Law, Russia, sanctions, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin February 28, 2015

Nemtsov assassination represents a stark warning to the opposition: “Criticize Putin, especially on the Ukraine, and you may die” (Updated March 6, 2015)

UPDATE (March 6, 2004) See Steffen Dobbert “Interview: ‘Putin hat Nemzow exekutieren lassen.’ Was Putin mit Hitler verbindet, und weshalb nur Russlands Präsident hinter dem…

Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, Dictatorship, European Union, France, Germany, History, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes February 19, 2015

Putin’s triumph over the pacifists and appeasers of the West, and the ferocious opponents he may face in the future (revised February 25, 2015)

COMMENTARY Revised February 25, 2015 The pacifists and appeasers who lead Europe and the United States, by taking no effective measures to counter Russian military…

Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, Dictatorship, elections, European Union, France, Germany, History, International Law, NATO, OSCE, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin, war crimes February 12, 2015

Minsk II Agreement of February 12, 2015 (with links to full texts in English and Russian)

Updated, revised and corrected on February 13, 2015 (Originally published on February 12, 2015) The Telegraph has published the full English text of the Minsk…

Barack Obama, Deutschland, European Union, France, Germany, NATO, OSCE, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, State Department, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin February 6, 2015

France and Germany should cede leadership on diplomacy with Russia to European Council (EU), NATO

When you stop and think about it, France and Germany have no business now representing Europe and NATO in talks with Putin and Russia over…

Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, Dictatorship, European Union, France, Germany, History, human rights, International Law, NATO, Russia, self-defense, State Department, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force, Vladimir Putin February 5, 2015

European and American leaders repeat grave mistakes in efforts to appease Putin on Ukraine

Updated February 5, 2015 (7:45 p.m. ET) See (1) Julia Smirniva (Moskau), “Die verzweifelte Suche nach Frieden für die Ukraine Die deutsche Kanzlerin, Frankreichs Staatschef…

Afghanistan, Barack Obama, European Union, extrajudicial execution, extraordinary rendering, extraordinary rendition, France, human rights, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, religious belief, Russia, targeted assassinations, targeted killings, Torture, Turkey, U.N. Convention Against Torture, Ukraine, United States, Vladimir Putin January 8, 2015

Civilization falters, as Russian aggression stands and Islamic terrorism explodes

The Charlie Hebdo massacre by Islamic extremists on January 7 underlines the failure of the West and other civilized countries to win the struggle in…

Barack Obama, Crimea, Czechoslovakia, Deutschland, France, Germany, History, International Law, Justice Department, NATO, Russia, U.N. Charter, U.S. Congress, U.S. Military, Ukraine, United States, use of force July 3, 2014

Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine continues; Europe refuses serious sanctions; Only serious sanctions can stop Russia

Developing For background, see The Trenchant Observer, “The virus of nationalism and military aggression: Adolf Hitler in Vienna, March, 1938; Vladimir Putin in Sevastopol, May…

Barack Obama, Czechoslovakia, Deutschland, Dictatorship, France, Germany, History, International Law, Russia, sanctions, U.S. Congress, Ukraine, United States, use of force June 30, 2014

The virus of nationalism and military aggression: Adolf Hitler in Vienna, March, 1938; Vladimir Putin in Sevastopol, May 9, 2014

The virus of unbounded nationalism and military aggression ravaged Europe, Germany and the world in the 1930’s and 1940’s, leading to World War II and…

Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, Dictatorship, Germany, human rights, International Law, Iran, Justice Department, NATO, Nuclear Proliferation, Russia, sanctions, State Department Legal Adviser, syria, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force June 26, 2014

The West, Russia and the Ukraine: Threats, facts on the ground, and sectorial sanctions

The EU and the U.S. are on the verge of deciding, once again, whether they will actually carry out their last round of threats. They…

Barack Obama, China, Crimea, Deutschland, Dimming Vision of World Affairs, France, freedom of speech, Germany, History, human rights, International Law, Russia, sanctions, syria, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force June 26, 2014

REPRISE: Responding to military seizure and annexation of the Crimea: Stronger PERMANENT SANCTIONS against Russia urgently needed

The question of the hour: Should a little Russian aggression and annexation of the Crimea keep the West from getting back to “business as usual”…

Crimea, International Law, Russia, sanctions, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, use of force June 25, 2014

New EU Regulation prohibits Importation or financing of imports of goods from the Crimea

The EU has imposed a real sanction on Russia which prohibits the importation to the EU or by any EU national or company of goods…

Barack Obama, Deutschland, France, Germany, History, human rights, International Law, NATO, Russia, sanctions, self-defense, U.N. Charter, Ukraine, United States, use of force June 3, 2014

The sheer mind-numbing incompetence of Obama’s White House foreign policy team; Ukraine—continuing pacifism and appeasement in the West

Developing You can’t make this stuff up. The sheer, mind-numbing incompetence of the White House foreign policy team surpasses the wildest leaps of the imagination….

Barack Obama, Deutschland, Germany, International Law, Russia, self-defense, U.N. Charter, U.S. Military, United States, use of force March 27, 2014

Thinking out loud: Obama’s war of words in the face of Russian aggression

President Obama has now gone out of his way twice to assert that the U.S. and by implication NATO would not use military force in…

Barack Obama, Crimea, Deutschland, Germany, NATO, Russia, sanctions, Serbia, syria, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, Ukraine, United States, use of force March 26, 2014

Responding to military seizure and annexation of the Crimea: Stronger PERMANENT SANCTIONS against Russia urgently needed

Developing Commentary Russia is not likely to disgorge the Crimea, annexed following Russian aggression and military seizure during the last month, any time soon. So,…

Barack Obama, Deutschland, Germany, International Law, Russia, sanctions, State Department, syria, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, U.S. Congress, Ukraine, United States, use of force March 12, 2014

Washington looks to Angela Merkel for leadership on Ukraine

The U.S. welcomes Germany’s leadership on in the Ukrainian crisis, the leading German news magazine Der Spiegel reported today. See Sebastian Fischer (Washington), “Ukraine: USA…

Barack Obama, CIA, Deutschland, France, Germany, International Law, Justice Department, NATO, NSA, Russia, sanctions, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, syria, U.N. Charter, U.N. Security Council, U.N. Torture Convention, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, use of force March 7, 2014

Western diplomats stumble in the Ukraine—-Stop telephone diplomacy, let Germany lead, and publish serious international law memoranda

Updated March 7, 2014 Western leaders have made three major blunders since the Russian military takeover of the Crimea first began on or around February…

Barack Obama, Chemical weapons, China, coverage of foreign events, Crimes Against Humanity, Deutschland, Dictatorship, foreign news coverage, France, Germany, History, human rights, International Law, NATO, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, State Department, State Department Legal Adviser, syria, Torture, Turkey, U.N. Charter, U.N. Convention Against Torture, U.N. Security Council, U.N. Torture Convention, U.S. Congress, U.S. Intervention, U.S. Military, United Kingdom, United States, use of force, war crimes September 7, 2013

Commentary on Syria and the response of the West

Latest News Reports and Commentary Aus Deutschland (1) Stefan Kornelius (Kommentar), Obama spürt die Kraft der zwei Mahlsteine, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 7. September 2013 (9:34 Uhr)….