4s9| Ukraine’s Victory Plan
UkraineCurt Readings & Musings [2024 s o9]
Hello possums!
A military scholar with political nous gives an early response to Zelo’s victory plan :—
☼¶ ☼Michael (Mick) Ryan (Qvm/mMJ Futura Doctrina)
☼Ukraine’s Victory Plan Why theories of victory matter and what Ukraine’s victory plan needs to achieve
At _JustPeace Ukraine_ we hope that D J Trump is roundly defeated in the polls (Perhaps you’ve heard that the USAmericans are electing a POTUSA on Melbourne Cup Day?), so that we can stop writing so much about US parliamentary politics; but apart from A Lincoln’s election in 1860, this is the most fateful poll in the history of the republic.
So, we are sorry to say that we have a new heading, +The Woes of the West+, which, at least until Melbourne Cup Day, will contain our gleanings on “America and Other Problems”.
Victoria’s leading Catholic theologian has died. A personal memoir by American Rome-watcher John Allen can be read with profit, we think, by everyone :—
☼¶ ☼Crux (Glendale)
Farewell to a theologian whose mind and heart alike were always trained on Christ
By John L. Allen Jr. (Gerald Glynn O'Collins, 22 August 2024, aged 93)
We urge you (if you’re a lover of Ukraine) to keep the evening of Tuesday 15 October 2024 free for the Inaugural Lecture of the recently-elected Mykola Zerov Fellow at Melbourne University — Dr Iryna Skubii — "The Tale of the Sunflower and Its Travels in Ukraine". (See below, +In the Offing+, for details.)
Cheers dears!
If you’re NOT interested in why Greece has a complicated relationship with Ukraine, then skip down to +The Woes of the West+
A Note from the Publisher:—
Dave Keating is a friend of freedom for Ukraine. Yet by titling his essay (cited below) Why Greece has a complicated relationship with Russia he illustrates a continuing problem of the imperial mindset — that “Moscow-RF is the legitimate successor state to the wonderful USSR, which is the successor state to the great empire of Pyotr Romanov, which is the successor state to one connected to the Viking merchant-warlord, Voldemar who was christened in about 988 in Chersonesus (i.e. Korsun — or perhaps he was baptized in Kyiv).”
Outside the RF, few go on to conclude: “Therefore RF is entitled to ignore treaties which it freely entered into and to invade Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and anywhere else it considers part of its sphere of influence.” But the thought seems to be at the back of many people’s minds.
Furthermore, any essay covering 2,600 years of human history is likely to be simplistic at times. (Does it really help to describe the Patriarch of Constantinople as “a sort of Orthodox pope”?). Let the reader be ware.
That said, please read
☼Why Greece has a complicated relationship with Russia From its creation, the Greek state was torn between a Russian East that wanted to revive the Byzantine Empire and a Philhellene West that wanted to revive ancient Greece. By Dave Keating (“an American-European journalist based in Brussels who moderates live events”).
+The Woes of the West+
☼☼(America and Other Problems)
☼¶ ☼Phillips P. O’Brien
Weekend Update #97: Putin's Narrative is Supported, Zelensky's is Contradicted A Textbook Case of How the Russians have Taken Over the MAGA Mind.
☼¶ Axel Springer SE (Politico, Bild, Die Welt, Fact)
The EU fiddles while Kyiv burns Time is running out on Ukraine’s finances, and none of the reasons behind the bloc’s inaction stand up to scrutiny. By Anders Åslund, Daniel Fried and Kurt Volker
Ukraine and near-by post-imperial places are in a bind, as Olesya Khromeychuk relates :—
☼¶ The Atlantic Council
Too many still view Ukraine through the prism of Russian imperialism By Olesya Khromeychuk
This two-minute clip from GOP statesman Adam Kinsinger likens the state of the TOP to a drunken hangover ‘cured’ by the hair of the dog that bit you :—
☼¶ ☼Adam Kinzinger
A Clip From “The Last Republican”
and Ambassador-emeritus Michael McFaul explains why DJ Trump’s admiration for M. Putin is dangerous for America. (We wouldn’t have believed it in 2016 either — that the GOP’s leader and many of its supporters would fall under the spell of a foreign dictator.)
☼¶ ☼Michael McFaul
☼Trump’s Admiration of Putin Is Dangerous for America For a decade, Trump has remained consistently loyal to Putin. That may be good for Russia, but not America.
“On August 17, 2016, in my Washington Post column, I wrote the following:
“Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to see Donald Trump become the next president of the United States. To that end, Putin and his government have taken unprecedented steps to influence our electoral process to help the Republican Party's nominee. Whether Russia's interventions will succeed is not obvious. But it's clear that Putin's government has the motives — and the means — to try.”
“… I am used to criticism on social media. But this column generated an explosion of ridicule when published. …
“Reread that column today. My guess is that you won't find anything extraordinary there. That is because eight years later, my observations about the Trump-Putin bromance remain true today.”
☼¶ ☼Letters from an American (Heather Cox Richardson)
September 7, 2024 — Publisher’s Note: Is D J Trump “losing it” (as the young peop middle-aged people say)?
+... and in the Left corner ...+
☼☼(For everyone, but of special interest to Social Democrats, Bolshevik imperialists, and other lefties)
☼¶ ☼Tempest
The Politics of the Aesthetic By Andrew Boyer
☼¶ ☼Daniel W. Drezner
☼The Very Weird Media Coverage of the 2024 Presidential Race The media's coverage of the 2024 race has been a little odd. Whether that matters is another question.
Kamala Harris Is Not a Foreign Policy Ingenue If she wins, Harris would be the second-most experienced foreign policy president in this century.
☼¶ The Strategist — The Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Territorial integrity is the base of European security | Carl Bildt | 21 August 2024 | Since 2014, Russia has brazenly violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity with incursions, illegal annexations and a full-scale invasion. And now Ukraine is violating Russia’s territorial integrity with its own incursion into the Kursk region.
☼¶ Engelsberg Ideas
The paradox of nuclear strategy | August 27, 2024 | Kristin Ven Bruusgaard | The vision of nuclear strategy as a means to prevent war remains a powerful but contested idea in international politics. As global rivalries intensify and nuclear arsenals expand, the risk of conflict seems more pronounced than ever.
‘Thus far, the key objective of military strategy has been to win wars. From now on, the key objective of military strategy must be to avert wars. There can be no other objective.’ So wrote Bernard Brodie, one of the key strategists of the early nuclear age …
Ukraine's surprise offensive into Kursk has not only caught Russia off guard but also shocked its allies, writes Mick Ryan, exposing the contrast between Ukrainian boldness and the West's timidity.
Theo Zenou explores how, amid the turmoil of the 1968 election, Arthur Ashe's groundbreaking US Open win propelled him from tennis star to civil rights champion.
☼¶ ☼From Baltic to the Black Sea (Cemil Kerimoglu)
☼The Curse of The Comfort Zone How the West miscalculated Russia's motivations. “In the past week, Russia has launched multiple missile strikes against several Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, and Lviv. These attacks specifically targeted schools and residential areas, with no military significance. What stands out among these is the location of Lviv. This city, with its rich history and beautiful historic center designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies far from the frontlines, nestled in western Ukraine, close to the Polish (i.e., NATO) border. It’s particularly striking that the Polish Air Force, equipped with sophisticated anti-missile systems, could have intercepted these attacks with ease. But they didn’t. Not because they lacked the capability or the will, but because they are under strict orders from the United States, specifically the Biden Administration, not to intervene.”
+Wayfarers’ Watch+
☼☼(For everyone, but especially for people interested in religion and theology)
☼¶ ☼The Wheel
Religion Instrumentalized: The Controversial Position of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate Over the War In Ukraine Priit Rohtmets
☼¶ ☼Crux (Glendale)
USA Supreme Court could preserve, or restrict, religious freedom in upcoming term By John Lavenburg
☼¶ ☼Church Life Journal of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame
The Achievement Society and Its Discontents Knepper, Stoneman, and Wyllie on Byung-Chul Han.
☼¶ ☼US Army War College’s War Room
MEAT VERSUS MACHINES: HUMAN INTUITION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE by Andrew A. Hill , Stephen Gerras
Our publisher is preparing a short response to Hill and Gerras’ essay. To receive it, or drafts of it, or to contribute your own response — please write to abbe.martincurt@gmail.com
+Femme Vitale+
☼¶ ☼Reactionary Feminist (Mary Harrington) and Inspecting Gender (Genspect)
☼Portugal: What to Expect from the Political Environment Regarding Gender Medicine By Marisa Antunes
Vindictive Busybodies On curtain-twitchers, Anglo eccentrics, and Why Post-Liberalism Failed
+Greensleeves+
☼☼(Green News, and other material which doesn’t fit elsewhere)
☼¶ ☼Profiles in Catholicism
The September issue of Profiles in Catholicism has a special focus on Environment and Climate Challenges. We interviewed several specialists. They include Christina Leano, Daniel Misleh, Allen Ottaro, Anna Robertson, Peter Rožič SJ, Gabriel López Santamaría and Gabriel López Santamaria (Interview in Spanish)
☼¶ ☼Comment is Freed (Sam & Lawrence Freedman)
☼How [UK] Labour can fix the public sector Figuring out how to let the workforce do their job Dan Honig and Sam Freedman
+Klaus Wits+
☼☼(Some notes about war)
☼¶ ☼Sarcastosaurus (Tom Cooper)
☼Ukraine War, 1 September 2024: Vanity Fair
☼¶ The Atlantic Council
Moscow escalates nuclear threats as Ukraine erases Russia’s red lines By Peter Dickinson
☼¶ ☼The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
A Long, Hard Year: Russia-Ukraine War Lessons Learned 2023 | by Michael T. Hackett and John A. Nagl
☼¶ ☼Michael (Mick) Ryan
The Big Five - 7 September edition My regular update on conflict and confrontation in Ukraine, the Middle East and the Pacific, accompanied by recommended readings on the character of modern war and planning for future conflict.
☼¶ ☼Defense One
China claims breakthroughs in autonomous vehicles If Chinese companies succeed in solidifying their dominance of the autonomous vehicle and LiDAR markets, the security implications are profound. Thomas Corbett and Peter W. Singer
☼¶ RUSI
Uncrewed Platforms Have Been Critical to Ukraine’s Success in the Black Sea H I Sutton
☼¶ _Foreign Affairs_ (The Council on Foreign Relations [US])
Ukraine’s Gamble The Risks and Rewards of the Offensive Into Russia’s Kursk Region By Michael Kofman and Rob Lee
+Right on+
☼☼(Sometimes about Conservatives and Liberals of the ‘right’)
This article by Nick Cohen helped us to understand why Malcolm Turnbull, in many ways a progressive thinker, has such rash views on the constitutional monarchy :—
☼¶ ☼Nick Cohen (Writing from London)
☼The abuses of secrecy: the Spycatcher scandal then and now
☼¶ ☼Adam Tooze
☼Chartbook 314 Analyzing the right-wing swing in Germany
☼¶ ☼Noah Smith (Noahpinion)
☼How do you deal with real, actual Nazis? They come back every few decades, spreading the same old lies.
☼
☼
+Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union+
☼☼ (Mostly material from the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group)
Court in Russia rules that 20-year sentence against Ukrainian POW for defending Mariupol is not long enough 02.09.2024
Russian FSB come for 70-year-old mother of imprisoned Crimean Tatar civic journalist Seiran Saliyev
Russian propagandist and soldiers openly boast of looting homes in occupied Ukraine 03.09.2024
Ukraine lodges war crimes probe after Russians shoot unarmed Ukrainian POWs in the back 04.09.2024
Relentless torture in Russia of Ukrainian partisan first seized in Donetsk 8 years ago 05.09.2024
Savage torture and 11-year sentence for opposing Russia’s occupation of Kherson 06.09.2024
+Toots etcetera+
ChrisO_wiki @ChrisO_wiki@mastodon.social
1/ Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine are subjected to a variety of arbitrary, brutal and illegal disciplinary methods, such as beatings, being imprisoned in pits, or being chained to trees for days at a time. Commanders kill their own soldiers and conceal their deaths. …
1/ A Russian colonel who drunkenly sent dozens of mobilised soldiers into an assault in which all were killed was awarded a Hero of Russia medal. The widow of one of the dead soldiers wants Putin to prosecute him for "mass murder and genocide of the Russian people."
1/ A Russian Arctic brigade which has been recruiting from prison colonies is reported to have been decimated in Ukrainian attacks on Russian-occupied islands in the Dnipro estuary and Black Sea, suffering as much as 80% casualties.
1/ RIA Novosti war correspondent Alexander Kharchenko issues a "cry for help" for Russian forces in the use of FPV drones against Ukrainian forces. He says that while improvements have been made, they rely solely on local initiative and not on the military command.
1/ A heavily publicised anti-UAV system adopted by the Russian National Guard turns out to have been smuggled in from China and apparently falsely represented as Russian by its supplier. At least one person has been charged in Russia for weapons smuggling.
☼☼
+In the Offing+
1) A seminar of the Research Initiative on Post-Soviet Space (RIPSS) at the University of Melbourne:
Professor Oksana Babelyuk (Lviv State University of Human Security/University of Sydney)
Linguistic Myths in the Russian-Ukrainian War: From Political Manipulations, through Language Challenges to National Identity
Time: Friday 13 September, 5:15pm
Place: Room 561, Arts West Building, University of Melbourne, Parkville
Abstract:
This presentation focuses on the most common linguistic myths used by Russian propaganda in connection with Russia’s war on Ukraine. In Russian propaganda, the fact that the Russian and Ukrainian languages belong to the same language family and have a certain lexical stock in common (62%) is used to justify denying Ukrainian the status of a separate language. Historical analysis of the “one nation, two languages” phenomenon in contemporary Ukraine shows how this is a result of Russification and genocide during the Soviet period. Russian propaganda treats the Ukrainian language as: 1) a Russian ‘dialect’ used in villages by uneducated people; 2) lacking its own scientific and technical terminology; 3) lacking its own national elite or high culture; 4) incapable of providing the basis for a national identity in Ukraine. All of these claims serve to depict Ukraine as a mere territory, without language, culture, or history.
This talk will pay special attention to how and why language policy in Ukraine has changed in wartime, how the Ukrainian language is being used as national identity code, and how English grammar and English military terminology are being used to signal political sympathies for Ukraine and to support Ukrainian sovereignty.
Oksana Babelyuk is a Professor at Lviv State University of Human Security; Visiting Professor in the School of Art, Communication and English, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney; and Chief Editor of Lviv Philology Journal.
2) An exhibition at the Ukrainian Museum of Australia:
Connection/Collection, an exhibition co-curated by artists Kiera Brew Kurec and Eva Heiky Olga Abbinga
Connection/Collection will run from 15 September to 17 November 2024, with an Opening Celebration on its first day:
Time: Sunday 15 September 2024, 12.00 – 15.00 p.m.
Place: Ukrainian Museum of Australia, 35 Canning Street, North Melbourne
-
3) Australasian Catholic Coalition for Church Reform, Spirit Unbounded and Garratt Publishing present
SYNODALITY IN OCEANIA Webinar
Wednesday 18 September 2024 5:30 pm AEST
4) Milestone in the history of Ukrainian Studies in Australia —
the inaugural public lecture of Dr Iryna Skubii, Mykola Zerov Fellow in Ukrainian Studies at the University of Melbourne.
Dr Iryna Skubii — "The Tale of the Sunflower and Its Travels in Ukraine"
Time: Tuesday 15 October 2024. Light refreshments: 5:15 p.m.; lecture: 6.15 p.m. AEDT. Place: Forum Theatre (Room 153), Arts West Building, The University of Melbourne. To register: please follow this link.
Abstract:
The sunflower, a vibrant and essential part of global cuisine, holds a unique place in Ukraine's cultural and historical landscape. Today, sunflower oil is a staple in local and regional cuisine, and the flower's bright imagery is deeply woven into the nation's cultural fabric. Yet, many might be surprised to learn that the sunflower, known as soniashnyk in Ukrainian, is not native to the local forest-steppe and steppe lands. First cultivated by Indigenous peoples in the Americas, sunflowers were introduced to Europe, then to the Russian Empire, and eventually became one of the most common crops in Ukraine. The sunflower has thrived in Eastern Europe, evolving into a cornerstone of Ukraine’s economy as the country has emerged as the world’s leading exporter of sunflower seeds and oil.
While the sunflower is a cherished icon in Ukrainian literature and art and a popular symbol of resilience, its environmental impact has not received the critical attention it deserves, particularly regarding its role in soil degradation and the spread of monoculture farming. This lecture will delve into the complex history of sunflowers within Ukraine’s economic, cultural, and environmental landscapes. By examining this agricultural plant as a source of food, cultural significance, and national wealth, the talk will illuminate the intricate relationship between sunflowers, Ukraine’s history, and its land.
Iryna Skubii is the inaugural Mykola Zerov Fellow in Ukrainian Studies at the University of Melbourne. She obtained her PhD in History from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario (Canada) and a Candidate of Science degree in History from V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (Ukraine). Her publications focus on Ukraine’s history of trade, consumption, materialities, and human-environmental relationships during the early Soviet period, including the Soviet famines, as well as social and environmental history. She is the author of the book Trade in Kharkiv in the Years of NEP: Economy and Everyday Life (1921-1929).
The Mykola Zerov Fellowship in Ukrainian Studies is generously funded by the Ukrainian Studies Support Fund of the Association of Ukrainians in Victoria.
Those of us who have the good fortune to live in Queensland or the misfortune to live without Melbourne should not be downcast! We are assured that the lecture will be available on zoom.
+The Living Spirit+
My Friend, a Prophet?
Wendy Kiyomi
My first prophetic friend was Kate, a college classmate, who was Mennonite and pure in heart. She rebuked me for tampering with prices at a book sale we were organizing together. I had thought it didn’t really matter that I lowered the price of a book by a couple of bucks so that I could buy it later at a discount. She noticed, and she didn’t approve. I mostly shrugged it off, but for months afterward, I had little stabs of regret. She is a brilliant epidemiologist now and probably doesn’t think about me at all. Yet, her willingness to see and speak at the time shaped my character more than she realized.
~ Plough
☼☼
+Start every day with a smile, and get it over with+
(W.C. Fields — William Claude Dukenfield 1946 z 25, aged 66)
Phyllis Ada Diller (20 August 2012, aged 95)
I should have suspected my husband was lazy. On our wedding day, his mother told me: "I'm not losing a son; I'm gaining a couch."
The doctor looked my body over. I said, "Is there any hope?" He said, "Yes. Reincarnation."
☼☼
+Publication Details+
Just Peace Ukraine is published by the Rvrd Martin Arnold
who welcomes comments & suggestions and notification of typos & errors.
For more information about Martin, go to
https://gravatar.com/martinoarnold
+Church, Art, Culture, Ethics, Politics & News+
+From religiously-identified institutions+
☼¶ ☼Australian Cardijn Institute
The jocist worldview “As I survey this month’s newsletter, I find myself reflecting on the richness of the jocist worldview. | From the 2024-2025 Social Justice Statement, released by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Office for Justice, to the biography of the Jesuit theologian and philosopher, Fr Yves de Montchaul (1900-1944), who was executed during the German occupation of France, Cardijn’s influence is evident. | The Three Truths can be found reflected in each of the articles that make up the August newsletter. Whether it be the Social Enquiry prompted by the Vatican News report on uranium mining in Australia, or the Gospel Enquiry based on Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth; or the videos that capture the two webinars conducted by ACI during August: these accounts bear witness to faith in action.”
☼¶ ☼Church Life Journal of the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame
Observations of an Aggie Domer: University Cultures, Evangelization, and the Shape of Faith Katherine Mascari on mini-cultures.
-
I and Thou and the Tau: The Semiotics of Addressing God Directly Thomas Sojer on you.
Constructing Antichrist: The Development of Doctrine in the Middle Ages Kevin Hughes on the Adversary.
The Achievement Society and Its Discontents Knepper, Stoneman, and Wyllie on Byung-Chul Han.
The Body of Christ Is Made from Bread: Transubstantiation and the Grammar of Creation Frederick Bauerschimdt on Aquinas and pilgrim food.
☼¶ ☼Crux (Glendale)
Farewell to a theologian whose mind and heart alike were always trained on Christ
By John L. Allen Jr. (Gerald Glynn O'Collins, 22 August 2024, aged 93)
Supreme Court could preserve, or restrict, religious freedom in upcoming term By John Lavenburg
☼¶ ☼Jewish Chronicle
The sad truth is that 10 months of war may have all been for nothing Is there hope for Israel and Gaza? I can’t see it — Nick Cohen
I am just back from my first visit to Auschwitz and it is a sobering thought that the greatest massacre of Jewish people since the fall of Nazism was committed on the watch of Benjamin Netanyahu’s right and far-right government. Not some alliance of bleeding-heart liberals, if one could even begin to imagine such a government coming to power in Israel. But of men who beat their chests and boasted of their patriotism. Their policy of tolerating Hamas as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority and its dreams of a Palestinian state had been a palpable disaster.
☼¶ ☼Jewish Council of Australia
Jewish Council of Australia opposes Coalition’s antisemitism Bill, citing political agenda to stifle free speech on Palestine August 27th, 2024
Jewish Council Newsletter: What to make of the ICJ’s landmark advisory opinion?
https://www.jewishcouncil.com.au/news-media | To receive bulletins from JCA, write to jewishcouncil@jewishcouncil.com.au
☼¶ ☼Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University — Public Orthodoxy
(St.?) Dumitru Staniloae: A Complex Figure by Rev. Dr. Radu Bordeianu
Legislative Ban on the UOC A Path to Reconciliation of the Orthodox Churches in Ukraine by Dr. Sergii Bortnik
A Trans-Orthodox Convergence on Human Rights Evgenios Voulgaris and Platon Levshin—a Model for Future Greek-Russian Exchange and Rapprochement? by Dr. Vasilios Makrides
The Imperial Identity of the Russian Orthodox Church in Estonia and the War in Ukraine by Dr. Priit Rohtmets — University of Tartu
Fullness of Grace in Answer to Our Prayer
by VK McCarty
☼¶ ☼Outreach (a lesbigatesque Catholic resource from New York)
Don't make Judaism look bad to make Jesus look good. Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Deut. 4:1-2, 6-8; Jas. 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27; Mk. 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23)
How Jesus Ennobles the Body Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 35:4-7a; Jas 2:1-5; Mk 7:31-37
☼¶ ☼Profiles in Catholicism
The September issue of Profiles in Catholicism has a special focus on Environment and Climate Challenges. We interviewed several specialists. They include Christina Leano, Daniel Misleh, Allen Ottaro, Anna Robertson, Peter Rožič SJ, Gabriel López Santamaría and Gabriel López Santamaria (Interview in Spanish)
☼¶ ☼Psephizo
Was John the first gospel? August 30, 2024 by Ian Paul
Why and how does Jesus ‘gather’ his people? September 6, 2024
☼¶ ☼Vatican News, Sala Stampa &c.
Pope Francis’s September prayer intention: For the cry of the earth
In a video message accompanying his prayer intention for September: that "each of us might listen with our hearts to the cry of the earth and of the victims of environmental disasters and climate change, making a personal commitment to care for the world we inhabit."
☼¶ ☼The Wheel
Religion Instrumentalized: The Controversial Position of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate Over the War In Ukraine Priit Rohtmets
+From Ukrainian publishers+
☼¶ ☼ψ Euromaidan Press ☼Frontelligence Insight
☼What the fall of Pokrovsk could mean for Ukraine Special report for Euromaidanpress
Why Zelenskyy sacked his top diplomat and what we can expect from Sybiha Experts say Kuleba was too diplomatic for the president. But will Zelenskyy’s aggressive style deliver in foreign policy? by Oksana Ostapchuk
☼¶ ☼ ψ The Kyiv Independent group, including Ukraine Daily, Belarus Weekly
‘Silent killer’: Russia boosts grinding Donbas advance with chemical warfare Ukrainian soldiers are often unprepared and unequipped to counter Russia’s surging use of chemical agents.
Russian POWs on their capture in Kursk Oblast: ‘Commanders just disappeared' Surrendering mostly without a fight after Ukraine's surprise incursion, most of the POWs taken were conscript soldiers never meant to fight.
Belarus Weekly: Kyiv, Minsk trade claims over intensified border tensions Kyiv has not officially requested Belarus to withdraw its troops from the border, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry has said amid more tensions between the two states.
Volhynian Massacre — the Achilles heel of Ukrainian-Polish relations | by Daria Svitlyk
☼☼ Some interesting or worthy items are marked with some combination of the banner with the strange device [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
+Tl;dr — From many sources+
☼¶ The Atlantic [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
The Conservatives Who Sold Their Souls for Trump The rage and shame of the anti-anti-Trumpers is getting worse. By Tom Nichols
Hitler Would Have Been Astonished The German dictator would not have recognized his description on The Tucker Carlson Show. By Thomas Weber
☼¶ The Atlantic Council [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
Putin hopes Belarus border bluff can disrupt Ukraine’s invasion of Russia By Peter Dickinson
There can be no European peace without Ukrainian victory By Olena Halushka
Dispatch from Kyiv: How Ukraine’s incursion into Russia has changed the war By John E. Herbst
Moscow escalates nuclear threats as Ukraine erases Russia’s red lines By Peter Dickinson
Too many still view Ukraine through the prism of Russian imperialism By Olesya Khromeychuk
☼¶ Axel Springer SE (Politico, Bild, Die Welt, Fact)[εξηλσιορ*ψ]
The EU fiddles while Kyiv burns Time is running out on Ukraine’s finances, and none of the reasons behind the bloc’s inaction stand up to scrutiny. By Anders Åslund, Daniel Fried and Kurt Volker
☼¶ Bellingcat https://mailchi.mp/bellingcat.com/newsletter-9174213?e=c665014242
Satellite Imagery Shows Vast Destruction in Rafah
Indian Sites Spreading Harmful Disinformation Are Earning Money Through Google’s Ads
☼¶ ☼Byline Times [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
A Trip to the Kherson Front Line: Human Dignity and the War Zone in Your Head Peter Jukes visits the vibrant city of Odesa and discovers more about the Ukrainian spirit of resistance at the front line in Kherson
☼¶ Carnegie (politika, Russia Eurasia) [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
Ukraine’s Ban on Moscow-Linked Church Will Have Far-Reaching Consequences Wednesday, September 4, 2024 | Konstantin Skorkin | The repercussions of outlawing the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate could be more serious than Kyiv seems to realize.
Securing Borders After a Breach of Confidence: Russian-Finnish Relations Finland sees the weaponization of migration as a form of hybrid warfare and has introduced legislation to combat it. René Nyberg
Why Does the Kremlin Need Queerphobia? Shaped by both Western conservatism and domestic prejudice, queerphobia in Russia is now part of the ideology of war. Inna Bondarenko, Mikhail Shubin, Dan Storyev
☼¶ CEPA, CSIS, CftNI &c. [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
Victory in Ukraine Starts with Addressing Five Strategic Problems Report by Benjamin Jensen and Elizabeth Hoffman “(1) integrating Ukraine into the European economic and transatlantic security order, (2) degrading Russia’s continued ability to bypass sanctions and access capital, (3) combating the resilience of Russian disinformation campaigns, (4) rethinking the arsenal of democracy, and (5) sustaining and strengthening Ukraine’s economy and democracy”
Making Attrition Work: A Viable Theory of Victory for Ukraine The most potent way for Ukraine to rebuild its advantage is to mount an effective defence in depth, which will reduce Ukraine’s losses and ammunition requirements. Franz-Stefan Gady
Taiwan — Lessons From Ukraine By Doug Livermore | August 28, 2024 | The Ukraine war has profoundly changed the nature of modern conflict. The lessons are being learned by Central and Eastern European nations, and the threatened island state of Taiwan.
☼¶ ☼Defense One
China claims breakthroughs in autonomous vehicles If Chinese companies succeed in solidifying their dominance of the autonomous vehicle and LiDAR markets, the security implications are profound. Thomas Corbett and Peter W. Singer
☼¶ Engelsberg Ideas
The paradox of nuclear strategy | August 27, 2024 | Kristin Ven Bruusgaard | The vision of nuclear strategy as a means to prevent war remains a powerful but contested idea in international politics. As global rivalries intensify and nuclear arsenals expand, the risk of conflict seems more pronounced than ever.
‘Thus far, the key objective of military strategy has been to win wars. From now on, the key objective of military strategy must be to avert wars. There can be no other objective.’ So wrote Bernard Brodie, one of the key strategists of the early nuclear age …
Ukraine's surprise offensive into Kursk has not only caught Russia off guard but also shocked its allies, writes Mick Ryan, exposing the contrast between Ukrainian boldness and the West's timidity. | Nick Lloyd traces Russian views of Ukraine back to the early 20th century when Ukraine emerged as a nation out of the chaos of the Great War. | Rory Medcalf on how Australia is reshaping its strategy and partnerships to meet the challenges of a contested Indo-Pacific.
In the new age of censorship, free speech, given the imperfections of human nature, is the worst way to manage disagreement, writes David Wootton, except for all the others. | Emily Herring profiles Henri Bergson, philosopher à la mode. | Children’s books draw on the energy of the oldest kind of narratives, myths and fairytales. Jeremy Wikeley reflects on their enduring magic. | The search for lost civilisations has mesmerised humanity for centuries. Christopher Hale investigates how Graham Hancock's works are the latest and most eloquent manifestation of this pseudo-history. | Theo Zenou explores how, amid the turmoil of the 1968 election, Arthur Ashe's groundbreaking US Open win propelled him from tennis star to civil rights champion. | What kinds of music have been heard across millennia of human history? Armand D'Angour reviews Sound Tracks: Uncovering our Musical Past by Graeme Lawson. | Oliver Soden asks: what makes a good opening line? | Benjamin Poore examines how the history of the Proms, the world's largest classical music festival, has been profoundly shaped by conflict, both past and present.
☼¶ European Council on Foreign Relations Update
In the first episode of our brand-new podcast series Swamp Chronicles, hosts Aslı Aydıntaşbaş and Jeremy Shapiro welcome Robert Kagan to discuss the historic roots of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement and what his potential victory could mean for US democracy. | While American politics is in the spotlight, geopolitical tensions also loom large. At an upcoming event, Agathe Demarais will explore a chilling “what if?” scenario: a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Drawing from her soon-to-be-published policy brief, she will examine Europe’s economic statecraft options and reflect on lessons from Ukraine-related sanctions. | Finally, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria are increasingly becoming destination countries for migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. Their ‘security first’ approaches towards migration could force EU states to rethink their own approach to the issue, argues Tasnim Abderrahim in her policy brief.
☼¶ _Foreign Affairs_ (The Council on Foreign Relations [US])
How Everything Became [USA] National Security And National Security Became Everything
By Daniel W. Drezner
A Theory of Victory for Ukraine With the Right Support and Approach, Kyiv Can Still Win [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
By Andriy Zagorodnyuk and Eliot A. Cohen
The New Bioweapons How Synthetic Biology Could Destabilize the World
By Roger Brent, T. Greg McKelvey, Jr., and Jason Matheny
Amy Zegart’s “The Crumbling Foundations of American Strength.” “Today, countries increasingly derive power from intangible resources—the knowledge and technologies such as AI that are super-charging economic growth, scientific discovery, and military potential.”
Ukraine’s Gamble The Risks and Rewards of the Offensive Into Russia’s Kursk Region By Michael Kofman and Rob Lee [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
☼¶ Institute for the Study of War
August 2024 Highlights:
A major new report by Drs. Kimberly and Frederick W. Kagan, titled "Ukraine and the Problem of Restoring Maneuver in Contemporary War," looks at how the war in Ukraine is reshaping future warfare and presents a framework to help Ukrainian forces and their Western allies overcome positional warfare and restore maneuver on the battlefield.
Ukraine and the Problem of Restoring Maneuver in Contemporary War Frederick W. Kagan and Kimberly Kagan with Mason Clark, Karolina Hird, Nataliya Bugayova, Kateryna Stepanenko, and George Barros August 12, 2024
Russia and GEOINT Team Lead George Barros assessed that hundreds of Russian military and paramilitary objects are within range of Ukrainian ATACMS, but US restrictions limit Ukraine's ability to strike them. ISW provides a list and interactive map to demonstrate the impact of these constraints on Ukraine's military options.
A report from ISW and AEI reported how China is challenging Taiwan's control over its outlying islands, particularly Kinmen, through repeated Chinese Coast Guard incursions and argued that the United States, Taiwan, and their partners must prepare for the possibility of a short-of-war coercion campaign by the People's Republic of China against Taiwan.
¶ Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment
Russia appears to be relying on several countries, including India, Serbia, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as part of its efforts to evade Western sanctions.
US and European officials reported that Iran delivered hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated on September 6 that no specific weapon would be a "game changer" for Ukraine and that allowing Ukrainian forces to use US-provided weapons for long-range strikes against Russian military targets within Russia would not change the status of the war. Austin is correct that no single weapon system will change the course of the war, but his comments ignore how weapon systems and their accompanying rules of engagement do affect Ukrainian capabilities, and that changes in capabilities can change the course of wars. Western military assistance remains crucial for Ukraine's ability to defend itself, and Austin’s statement ignores the Ukrainian long-range strike capability requirement necessary to disrupt Russian rear staging areas.
☼¶ ☼Inside Innovation (C4ADS) [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
C4ADS & the NYT: PRC Acquisition of Restricted Nvidia AI Chips
C4ADS & The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong
☼¶ ☼International Organization [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
Wilfred Chow and Dov Levin. “The Diplomacy of Whataboutism and US Foreign Policy Attitudes.” International Organization 78 (Winter 2024): 103-133.
On 23 May 2021, the Belarusian government forcibly diverted a Ryanair passenger plane to land in Minsk. After the plane landed, Belarussian police removed and arrested a prominent Belarussian dissident, Roman Protasevich. The United States and the European Union “strongly condemn[ed] … this shocking act,” declared it a “brazen affront to international peace,” and threatened sanctions against Belarus. But the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sprang up in defense of Belarus, claiming that the US and the EU had “responded very differently to similar events … in the past” and demanding that they “refrain from double standards.” The ministry noted that in 2013, following (inaccurate) intelligence reports, the US government had forced the plane of Bolivia's then-president Evo Morales to land in Vienna so it could arrest intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. | Russia's reaction to the diversion of Ryanair flight 4978 exemplifies a frequently used rhetorical tool in the international arena: whataboutism."
☼¶ _Moscow Times_
Telegram founder and chief Pavel Durov was banned from leaving France after being charged with failing to curb illegal and extremist content on the messaging platform. The Russian-born billionaire’s detention has drawn mixed responses from across Russian society, with some decrying it as an attack on free speech and others criticizing Durov for allowing the Kremlin to spread propaganda on the app.
Ex-Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov was arrested on fraud charges related to a military-themed amusement park outside Moscow.
Indonesian authorities said they have “no information” to confirm earlier reports alleging that their citizens are being recruited to fight in Ukraine.
Russia’s Central Bank revoked Goldman Sachs’ brokerage license after the company decided to scale back its activities in the country following the invasion of Ukraine.
Authorities named five more suspects in connection with the deadly attack on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall in March.
Washington indicted two employees of the Kremlin-funded RT news network and imposed sanctions on top editors, accusing them of seeking to influence the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Russian companies have managed to buy spare parts for old microchip-making machines produced by Dutch tech giant ASML through Chinese intermediaries since the start of the war.
Gazprom is postponing several major offshore exploration projects in the Arctic after reporting record losses earlier this year.
A logistics company from Uzbekistan helped ship $36.6 million worth of artwork from Europe to Russia, bypassing EU sanctions on luxury goods.
The deputy commander of Russia’s newly formed Leningrad Military District, Major General Valery Mumindzhanov, was arrested on bribery charges.
☼¶ _New York Times_ [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
Wesleyan University President Michael Roth — New York Times op-ed, “I’m a College President, and I Hope My Campus Is Even More Political This Year.” Roth explains what he means by this, and in doing so reminds all of us that the modern American university is not and should not be only about turning young people into better white-collar workers.
☼¶ Riddle Russia [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
The economic aftermath of «the events» in the Kursk region
Vladislav Inozemtsev discusses how the invasion of Russia by the Ukrainian Armed Forces will impact the Kremlin
"The most significant blow to the Russian economy did not come from the seizure of the Bank of Russia’s assets or the introduction of an oil price ceiling, but from the Ukrainian counter-offensive of late summer and early autumn 2022, which triggered ‘partial mobilisation’, with almost a million people fleeing from the country. The same event provoked the still ongoing increase in payments to mobilised and contract soldiers, which, despite accelerating economic growth, created unprecedented imbalances in the labour market, propelled the inflation rate and caused many other negative effects. The invasion of Russian territory by the Ukrainian army may have much more dramatic consequences than an external observer might imagine"
Telegram Under Attack
Andrei Pertsev explains why popular Telegram channels loyal to the authorities were now labeled as «foreign agents»
"The Ministry of Justice has recently added «Brief» and «Nezygar» Telegram channels to its list of «foreign agents». This is a milestone in the history of Russian media. The state is trying to establish full control over the media: the «old» familiar outlets have already been completely censored or blocked, now it is the turn of the new digital media, which quickly became an alternative to the traditional, but blocked or censored sources of information. For a long time, Telegram channels were a kind of gray area, tolerated by the authorities and used to exchange signals within intra-elite groups or as an outlet for the politicized part of society to blow off some steam. Now, Telegram has become a dangerous problem for the authorities"
Statism Based on Love or Calculation
Ivan Fomin explores the dual configuration of Putin’s ideology
I"n trying to answer the question of whether or not Putin has an ideology, we risk falling into one of two extremes. On the one hand, there is the danger of seeing a coherent ideological construct where there is none — of reducing the hodgepodge of disparate ideas and values used by the regime to a single system of attitudes. On the other hand, there is the danger of dismissing Russian officials’ talk of «patriotism» and «traditional values» as empty verbiage, and losing sight of truly functioning, sustainable ideological mechanisms.
Russian Opposition in the Eyes of Russians in Russia and Abroad: The Case of Anti-Corruption Foundation
Margarita Zavadskaya and Mikhail Turchenko explain how Russians view the ACF’s activities and key figures
"Before the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the organizations created by Alexey Navalny were major players in Russian opposition politics. It is hardly surprising, then, that in 2021 the Russian authorities declared Navalny’s headquarters and his Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) to be extremist organizations and deployed their entire repressive apparatus to crush them. Since then, neither the leaders nor the activists of these organizations have been able to work openly in Russia."
Russia’s counterterrorism strategy is backfiring
Harold Chambers explains how the Russian security services’ heavy handed tactics have compounded terrorist threats across the country
"Militancy and terrorism in Russia have surged during the first half of 2024, culminating in the recent Volgograd jailbreak, an attack connected to the Islamic State. Moscow theoretically possesses two decades of experience in counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and counter-extremism. The strategy for all three, however, has largely proved one and the same: significant violence, surveillance, and state control. "
☼¶ RUSI [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
Kursk Nuclear Power Plant: The Newest Target for Russian Disinformation In the wake of Ukrainian advances into Russia’s Kursk region, Moscow has sought to capitalise on fears around nuclear safety by spreading unsubstantiated claims that the Kursk nuclear power plant is at risk of attack from Ukraine.
After Wagner: Non-State Groups Fighting in Ukraine Although the Wagner Group’s presence in Ukraine may have ended, a range of other non-state actors have stepped up to take its place, many of which display extreme right-wing beliefs.
Uncrewed Platforms Have Been Critical to Ukraine’s Success in the Black Sea H I Sutton
☼¶ The Strategist — The Australian Strategic Policy Institute
Wong and Marles must speak up about Chinese incursions into Japan
Justin Bassi and Alex Bristow | 4 September 2024
From the bookshelf: ‘Zhou Enlai: A Life’
Robert Wihtol | 30 August 2024
‘Northern frontier culture’: How China is erasing ‘Mongolia’ from Mongolian culture
Bethany Allen, Daria Impiombato and Nathan Attrill | 29 August 2024
Territorial integrity is the base of European security | Carl Bildt | 21 August 2024 | Since 2014, Russia has brazenly violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity with incursions, illegal annexations and a full-scale invasion. And now Ukraine is violating Russia’s territorial integrity with its own incursion into the Kursk region. [εξηλσιορ*ψ]
☼¶ ☼STUDIES IN POLITICS, SECURITY AND SOCIETY Edited by Stanislaw Sulowski, Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw
Alicja Z. Nowak / Kinga Anna Gajda (eds.) University and War in Ukraine
Contents
Ukrainian Studies and War .......................................................................... 11
Alicja Zofa Nowak Te “University and War” Project – Perspectives of Polish-Ukrainian Studies at the Jagiellonian University ................................................................... 13 Iryna Polets-Gerus Slavic Studies at War: Decolonization and Ukrainian Perspective ................... 25
Aniela Radecka Cultural and Academic Elites towards the Russian War in Ukraine: Identity, Responsibility, Resistance ....................................................................... 49
University and War: Situation, Problems, Solutions ........................ 61
Oleh Turiy Approaching Victory Together: Te University’s Mission in War .................... 63
Rafał Kęsek Higher Education in Ukraine during the War: General Characteristics, State Policy, University Strategies, and the Situation of Students ..................... 75 Michael Moser Te Ukrainian Language in the Schools and Universities of the Temporarily Occupied Territories ......................................................................... 85 Tetyana Nagornyak Displaced Ukrainian Universities in the War (2014–2022): Directions of Management Practices under Uncertainty ........................................................ 101
Roman Blahuta, Olha Balynska and Iryna Hloviuk Legal Education in Ukraine and War ................................................................. 117
University and War: Counterreaction and Support ........................ 139
Kinga Anna Gajda and Marcin Galent Up to the Task – University in the Face of War ................................................. 141
Mykola Zhurba International Educational Project in the Conditions of War: Communication, Social Responsibility, and Support ....................................... 157 Liubov Dablo Ukrainian Academic Emigration as a Consequence of the Russian- Ukrainian War: the European Context .............................................................. 167 Andriy Budnyk, and Olena Donets Te Project “Creative Resistance” of Ukrainian Students and Professors of Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts and Kyiv University of Culture in Poland .................................................................................................. 177
Mateusz Kamionka Local Humanitarian Volunteerism in the Time of Full-Scale Russo- Ukrainian War on the Example of an Polish Informal Group “Olkusz Helps Ukraine” ....................................................................................................... 208
Yevhen Yashchuk Students’ Agency in a Wartime Learning Process: the Experiences of Invisible University for Ukraine ......................................... 223
About the War: Voice From University ................................................. 235
Liudmyla D. Chekalenko Antyhumanitarian Policy of Russian Invaders on the Ukrainian Territory .. 237
Magdalena Banaszkiewicz Communities of Solidarities after the Russian Invasion of Ukraine .............. 245
☼¶ ☼Tempest
The Politics of the Aesthetic By Andrew Boyer
☼¶ TNSR
Book Review Roundtable: Why a Political Sensibility Is Important to Successful Military Command Jason Dempsey, Raphael S. Cohen, Susan Bryant, Sonya Finley
Filling the Void Left by Great-Power Retrenchment: Russia, Central Asia, and the U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan Charles E. Ziegler
☼¶ ☼US Army War College’s War Room
MEAT VERSUS MACHINES: HUMAN INTUITION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE by Andrew A. Hill , Stephen Gerras
☼¶ ☼The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters
A Long, Hard Year: Russia-Ukraine War Lessons Learned 2023 | by Michael T. Hackett and John A. Nagl
☼¶ ☼Viktor Stepanenko
UkrAiniAn sociEtY UndEr wAr: An insidEr’s sociologicAl notEs
Good-bye & bless you!
*_* Хай живе вільна Україна *_* "L’Ukraine a toujours aspiré à être libre" - Voltaire *_* Няхай жыве вольная Украіна *_* Larga vida a Ucrania libre *_* Да здравствует свободная Украина *_* Long live free Ukraine *_* 自由乌克兰万岁 *_* Bandera rossonera la trionferà! *_* تحي أوكرانيا حرة *_*