Pope Francis Draws Comparison Between Stalin’s Holodomor and Putin’s Invasion
On the day dedicated to the memory of the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine – which falls annually on the fourth Friday in November – Pope Francis mentioned the famine in Ukraine with the words: “the ext
Made-in-China Mess
November 28, 2022 What in the world is wrong with China? Months of draconian “zero-Covid” lockdowns have failed and the disease continues to surge, disrupting lives and livelihoods.
Yuriy Shukhevych – A Tribute
I write this memoir about an extraordinary person, not to retell his biography, but rather to pay tribute and express my personal feelings about him from my own interactions, and also to proffer an as
The Tedium of Tyranny
Freedom is about dignity, but it has the simple character of being less tedious than tyranny. That’s a perfectly good reason to embrace it. There are many good reasons why autocratic regimes usually f
“Waiting for Godot” and Recovery in Ukraine
Cultural life is burgeoning in some parts of Ukraine, while in others basic services remain out of reach. Adam and Eve, Isaac Newton, and Steve Jobs have something in common: For all of them the apple
Russia – A Riddle no More, Finally the Harsh Truth (Part 2: Concluded)
Read Part 1 of this Op Ed here. Ignorance, Myopia, Pragmatic Self-Interest, or Plain Cowardice? Even after the Russian bear had used its vicious claws in Ukraine’s Crimea and Donbas and displayed its
The Looming Ghost of Corruption?
The last thing I remember when trying to fall asleep on the night of Feb. 23 – the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – was the sound of Russian propaganda trumpets blowing as loud as ever
Why Sergei Magnitsky’s Death Wasn’t in Vain
It was 13 years ago this month that Sergei Magnitsky was killed in Moscow’s Butyrka prison. Just seven days before he would have had to have been released if he was not brought to trial after almost a
Armed Hostile Conflict: Atrocity of Atrocities
In my early formative years, Hollywood, TV, toy guns, and games inundated and inured me to violence. It was always the good guys against the bad guys. My father fought in World War II and the Korean W
Can Aggressive Russian Democratic Opposition Strategy Topple Putin?
Last week, the first Congress of People’s Deputies from Russia was held in historic Jabłonna, Poland, in the very building where the famed roundtable talks between the Solidarity Movement and communis
Democratic Values as Basis of Prosperity, Protection From War
I visited the capital of Romania, Bucharest, on a business trip recently. The city impressed me not only with its architecture, but also with its extraordinary hospitality. It’s also worth mentioning
Russia – A Riddle no More, Finally the Harsh Truth (1)
Winston Churchill in 1939 famously described Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” And for decades, if not centuries, the Western fascination with Russia as some sort of exotic
