Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues,

It is difficult to find anyone who wants to seriously consider the question – why does the West hate Russia so much? – when we are told daily that Russia is responsible for a murderous, unprovoked, devastating war of aggression that is destroying its innocent neighbor, while on a path to recreate the geographical scope and cultural influence of the USSR or Imperial Russia … or something even bigger and worse. Given that premise, it’s easy to stoke hatred.

But what if the premise is wrong? What if there is something both darker and more mundane at work in the official narrative?

Gilbert Doctorow has been studying, observing, working in, and writing about Russia since receiving his PhD in Russia Studies from Columbia University in the ‘70’s. In the interview below he explains the recent history and genesis of what can almost be called a Western pathology on the subject of Russia. It is a short but illuminating talk. Please note the amazement (or perplexity) on the young interviewer’s face as her belief in the “truth” of the official narrative is shaken.

We are looking forward to your comments.

The Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Armageddon Newsletter

Why the West HATES Russia!

July 9, 2023
By Gilbert Doctorow

At the start of the past week, interview host Natali Morris and I had a 20 minute chat which has just been released on youtube and also was posted on Twitter and on Rumble under the provocative title “Why the West HATES Russia?”

I am grateful to the hosts for bringing the issues in my 2015 book Does Russia Have a Future? to the wide audience of their 2 million subscribers via this professionally prepared and edited broadcast.

The interviewer uses a journalistic technique similar to the winning formula of Tucker Carlson and the results, I believe, will both entertain and inform the audience.

[Continue Reading & To Watch Interview]

Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues,

The Duran team of Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris recently interviewed Professor Jeffrey  Sachs for his views on the Vilnius NATO summit plus the history of US/Russia relations that brought us to where we are today – teetering on the brink of nuclear war. As always, Professor Sachs pulls no punches in his assessments. In the attached video he is clear on who he feels is to blame for deliberately, callously choosing war over peace.

Self-styled internet “fact checkers” call The Duran a right-wing, conspiracy pushing site that should be avoided; The Duran insists it is “… not right, left or center [but]…a media site that focuses on a pragmatic analysis of stories in the news.” What do you think? Is Professor Sachs pushing a right-wing agenda or is he a pragmatic analyst?

The video is an hour long, but the Sachs interview concludes by the 31 minute mark with the remainder being a discussion of audience comments. Enjoy, and let us know your views.

The Center for Citizen Initiatives

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The Duran

“The Duran Interviews Jeffrey Sachs”

July 18, 2023

By Alex Christoforou and Alexander Mercouris / The Duran

NATO summit failure and further Biden escalation w/ Jeffrey Sachs

Also, for your consideration – a short video from a new voice, Isabella Weber, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  She has an interesting take on parallel economic history in support of Prof. Sachs’ position:

FMI: How China (Actually) Got Rich by The Gravel Institute

Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues,

Amid so much bad news about events going on in our world today, there was recently one very positive happening – the Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal’s appearance before the United Nations Security Council.

It’s not that Max had good news to deliver – quite the contrary. But the fact that he was invited to speak frankly, honestly, and publicly on subjects of grave importance to our country which our mainstream, legacy media outlets choose to ignore, is significant. We can only hope it comes to represent a shift in our national consciousness.

A video and the transcript of his talk are below. If you have already seen it, please consider taking the time for a second look. It is truly that inspiring.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts.

The Center for Citizen Initiatives

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THE GRAYZONE

Max Blumenthal at the UN

June 29, 2023

The Grayzone’s Max Blumenthal addressed the UN Security Council on the role of US military aid to Ukraine in escalating the conflict with Russia and the real motives behind Washington’s support for Kiev’s proxy war.

A full transcript of Blumenthal’s address is below.

By Max Blumenthal / THE GRAYZONE

Thank you to Wyatt Reed, Alex Rubinstein and Anya Parampil for helping me prepare this presentation. Wyatt has first hand experience with the subject as a journalist whose hotel in Donetsk was targeted with a US-made howitzer by the Ukrainian military in October 2022. He was 100 meters away when the strike hit, and was nearly killed.

My friend, the civil rights activist Randy Credico, is also here with me today. He was in Donetsk more recently, and was able to witness regular HIMARS attacks by the Ukrainian military on civilian targets.

I’m here not only as a journalist with over 20 years of experience covering politics and conflict on several continents, but as an American dragooned by my own government into funding a proxy war that has become a threat to regional and international stability at the expense of the welfare of my fellow countrymen and women.

[Continue Reading]

FMI: Max Blumenthal Addresses UN Security Council

Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues,

A few weeks ago, when the world was transfixed with the Prigozhin affair, Vladimir Putin made a few statements in Moscow that should have gotten our attention. In short, he declared that there is no sovereign state of Ukraine that Russia is required, by law, to recognize.

Two things about V. Putin have become evident to anyone closely following the Russia-West relationship over the past couple of decades:

1. He rarely speaks frivolously.
2. He knows, and is careful to adhere to, international law. (This statement will anger those who insist Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine is an illegal act of aggression. But it is always useful to recognize that whenever a claim of illegality is made, there is very often a coherent and persuasive counterclaim.)

Australian journalist John Helmer, who has been based in Moscow since 1989, reports on Mr. Putin’s recent statements below. The ramifications of the Russian position on Ukrainian sovereignty are provocative to say the least.

Please give the article your careful consideration and let us know what you think.

The Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Dances With Bears

“Putin Orders Reality Check – No Ukrainians Left On The Battlefield, No Sovereignty in Kiev”

June 24, 2023

By John Helmer / Dances With Bears

In brief statements issued late last week in Moscow – their significance missed in the western press — President Vladimir Putin ordered a reality check of Russia’s war strategy. He then  answered himself by declaring the war will be over when no Ukrainian army will be left on the battlefield, nor NATO weapons.  

The Foreign Ministry answered by pointing out that Russia does not recognize there is a legal Ukrainian state because the reality is that the mutual recognition treaty between Russia and the Ukraine was cancelled by Presidents Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Zelensky in 2018 and 2019 ^[3].  

“We can conclude,” Putin said ^[4] at the Security Council meeting on Thursday morning,  “that they can certainly send in additional equipment, but the mobilisation reserve is not unlimited. And Ukraine’s Western allies really seem determined to fight with Russia to the last Ukrainian. At the same time, we must proceed from the fact that the enemy’s offensive potential has not been exhausted; they may have strategic reserves yet unused, and I ask you to keep this in mind when making fighting strategies. You need to proceed from reality.”

[Continue Reading]

Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues.

Last week we had intended to send you an article by Professor John Mearsheimer, America’s foremost advocate for an appreciation of ‘realpolitik’.  Some call that a harsh and inhumane philosophy of “might makes right”; we suggest it refers to looking at the world honestly and not through the lens of any preferred bias.

We decided to hold off on that post until the NATO summit in Vilnius had concluded.  We hoped a glimmer of a possibility for peace in Europe might emerge from the gathering.  It was a forlorn hope, as it turns out,  but a link to NATO’s official, 22-page summation of the proceedings is below for your assessment.

And so back to the subject of realpolitik. 

In this article Professor Mearsheimer takes another hard look at the situation in Ukraine and he comes up with some hard, unpleasant assessments.  We do not necessarily agree with all of his assumptions but his analysis of the facts on the ground is clear-eyed and insightful. A link to Glenn Greenwald’s interview with Professor Mearsheimer, on the same subject, is also below for those who prefer video.

To further expand on the subject we have included the video of another interview, this one with Colonel Douglas Macgregor – the well-respected military realist. 

There’s a lot to take in here, folks, and as always, we look forward to your views. Are the opinions we are presenting here too dire?

The Center for Citizen Initiatives

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John’s Substack

“The Darkness Ahead:  Where the Ukraine War is Headed”
June 23, 2023

By John J. Mearsheimer / John’s Substack

This paper examines the likely trajectory of the Ukraine war moving forward.  I will address two main questions.

First, is a meaningful peace agreement possible? My answer is no. We are now in a war where both sides – Ukraine and the West on one side and Russia on the other – see each other as an existential threat that must be defeated. Given maximalist objectives all around, it is almost impossible to reach a workable peace treaty. Moreover, the two sides have irreconcilable differences regarding territory and Ukraine’s relationship with the West. The best possible outcome is a frozen conflict that could easily turn back into a hot war. The worst possible outcome is a nuclear war, which is unlikely but cannot be ruled out.  

Second, which side is likely to win the war? Russia will ultimately win the war, although it will not decisively defeat Ukraine. In other words, it is not going to conquer all of Ukraine, which is necessary to achieve three of Moscow’s goals: overthrowing the regime, demilitarizing the country, and severing Kyiv’s security ties with the West. But it will end up annexing a large swath of Ukrainian territory, while turning Ukraine into a dysfunctional rump state. In other words, Russia will win an ugly victory.

Before I directly address these issues, three preliminary points are in order. 

[Continue Reading]

Additional Information:

NATO Summation of Proceedings (Vilnius, July 2023)

Glenn Greenwald’s Interview with Professor Mearsheimer

Klaus Bernpaintner’s Interview with Colonel Douglas Macgregor