Dear CCI Friends,
How do we make sense of the events of the past week? Was the Trump/Putin summit in Alaska a victory for the return of diplomatic relations between the US and Russia – and perhaps a promising first step towards peace in Ukraine? Or was the summit trumped (sorry!) by the full court press put on by Zelensky and the Europeans in a bid to keep the war going ‘as long as it takes’ (to do what, we might ask)?
Or were the events merely more of the drama, the optics as they say, of red carpets, smiles and handshakes, military fly-overs, the leaders of Europe posed as supplicants before the wizard of Washington?
The mainstream media in the US and in Russia give us a taste of all the trendy interpretations flowing from those events and no doubt you have already absorbed much of it. For an analysis of what these sorts of summits or peace talks should accomplish, given what we know of what is happening in Ukraine, we are suggesting this article by Professor Paul Robinson at the University of Ottawa. It was written just before the Trump/Putin meeting and it is as sound as anything we’ve seen on the subject since.
“If Trump Truly Wishes to End the War, Previous Unworkable Approaches Must Finally be Abandoned…”
https://landmarksmag.substack.com/p/what-trump-needs-to-do-at-the-alaska
And for a quick overview by our favorite former CIA analyst, please see:
“Trump & the Seven Dwarfs”
“The shared, overriding objective to improve bilateral ties came through clearly both at the summit on Friday and at the “March of the Gnomes” on Monday when seven European leaders arrived at the White House to back Volodymyr Zelensky (no offense to garden gnomes – or dwarfs).”
Thanks to Ray for a laugh; and to all of you, for taking the time to give us your feedback on these momentous happenings, our deepest appreciation.
Sincerely,
The Center for Citizen Initiatives