President Putin's government made a concession to the military after being rebuffed by the United States when its national security adviser from Stanford, Condi Rice, advised the White House under President George Bush Jr that the Russians were of no account. Having reached out to the United States with helpful intelligence information after 9.11, against … Continue reading Russian Wedge-Driving into NATO

The bomb plot conceived by senior German officers aimed at the assassination of Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944 was the object of a feature film starring Tom Cruise not so long ago. The story appeared to have been well established, but one crucial dimension was absent until, that is, on 30 November 1997 President … Continue reading Stalin Preferred Hitler to the Generals

One of the crucial sources of tension and conflict in relations between the Soviet Union and Communist China was the issue of the unequal treaties concluded between the weakened Chinese empire of the 19th Century and the expanding empire that was tsarist Russia. As soon as the relationship completely broke down in the autumn of 1962, … Continue reading China Wants Sakhalin Back

President Trump of course had no alternative but to deny emphatically that C.I.A. agents had been arrested and detained in Iran. But the Iranian secret services have a high reputation and the Iranian news agency, FARS, not only lists the agents' recruiters and handlers, it also published colour photographs and, in some instances, of their … Continue reading Iran Rounds Up C.I.A. Agents

        Organised opposition against Vladimir Putin's régime grows slowly but steadily. What reaches the headlines is insignificant compared to what is actually going on throughout the country. Having heard a detailed description of the Fabian tactics pursued by Putin's young opponents, one comes away impressed and then cheated by the absence of … Continue reading Moscow Protests: 1373 Arrested

In the bad old days, Soviet "youth' (roughly anyone under 45) used to lament the fact that foreign travel was not possible. If anything it was the greatest complaint among the apolitical mass of the "middle class". But they did not think of going and not returning. Now, young people - more sensibly defined by … Continue reading Emigration Tempting Russian Youth

President Putin has always highlighted the United States as the major security threat to Russia. In turn the United States has invariably focused on Russia, the old enemy, as the main adversary; as though interfering in the domestic affairs of the other side was a novelty worthy of withering indignation. Somehow the obvious seems to … Continue reading China Also Threatens Russian Security