Dear CCI Friends,

The threat of Russia attacking Ukraine is beginning to unravel. Russian troops are on their side of the border to send a strong message. NATO and the United States are now being checkmated by France, Germany and other European countries that need international trade to continue.

The day before the article below appeared, I was sitting in my St. Petersburg flat interviewing Dmitri Orlov, an internationally known critic of both Russia and U.S. policy.

Orlov totally rejected the notion that war would break out and gave logical reasons why.

We can breathe more easily now that the situation is becoming clearer. Did Biden not know the reality of the situation? Who was giving his handlers information? Asking questions earlier could avoid a period like this in the future.

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Statement from The American Committee forUS-Russia Accord

January 26, 2022
ACURA

Ending The Ukraine CrisisRequires Negotiation and Compromise 

This is, in a very real sense, the defense of the United States,” proclaimed an editorial in The Washington Post.

“The Administration has not made enough of the point that we are [at war], fundamentally because our own vital interest is at stake. . . . The stark fact remains that this is a struggle about the organization of the world.”

The editorial appeared on September 5, 1966.

As we now know, the war in Vietnam which the Post was then making the case for would drag on for nearly another decade, needlessly killing and wounding hundreds of thousands civilians and soldiers.

Having learnt nothing from the subsequent wars of choice waged in our name, the American media and foreign policy establishment has again embarked on a crusade to embroil us in yet another foreign adventure, this time against Russia. The difference this time, as opposed to prior conflicts, is that the stakes are vastly higher, because in any conflict between the world’s two nuclear superpowers there exists the very real possibility, through accident, miscalculation or mistake, that the crisis could go nuclear.

Succumbing to the misguided pressure campaign undertaken by the Washington media and foreign policy establishment; by the former military and intelligence officials who are regularly given space and airtime on key outlets; and not least by members of Congress from both sides of the aisle – the Biden administration is now weighing options to deploy thousands of troops to Eastern Europe and the Baltics, in addition to the shipments of lethal aid that were sent this past week to Ukraine.

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CCI Friends,

Katrina vanden Heuvel, life-partner of deceased Stephen Cohen, has written an assessment that is of immense importance. It makes more sense than any of the articles demanding Russia to forget needing to get agreements to protect against NATO. Please pass on to your friends and colleagues.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Washington Post

Stop the Stumble Toward War with Russia

January 18, 2022
By Katrina vanden Heuvel

In the technical argot of diplomacy, what’s going on in the Ukraine crisis is nuts.

With 100,000 troops massed on Ukraine’s border, Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded a written response this week from the United States and its NATO allies regarding his demands for a guarantee that NATO will not expand eastward.

Three rounds of negotiations reached a dead end. The White House suggests Russia is planning a “false flag” operation in Ukraine as pretext for invasion. President Biden threatens severe sanctions; Putin says they would be a “colossal mistake.”

Hotheads are having a field day. A White House task force that includes the CIA is reportedly contemplating U.S. support for a guerrilla war if Russia seizes Ukraine; Russian hawks talk of a military deployment to Cuba and Venezuela. A former NATO secretary general says the alliance could admit Finland and Sweden “overnight” if provoked by the Russians.

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CCI Followers,

Thanks to journalist Fred Weir, we are able to understand the latest on the Kazakhstan uprising.

All the best from a frigid St.Petersburg.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Christian Science Monitor

How the Kazakhstan Crisis Reveals a Bigger Post-Soviet Problem

January 10, 2022
By Fred Weir

Peace and order appear to be returning to the major cities of Kazakhstan. But the political landscape, both at home and in Kazakhstan’s relations with its neighbors, is vastly changed.

Despite a week of the most violent and destructive disorder in Kazakhstan since the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago – set off by apparently spontaneous protests over the doubling of gas prices at the start of the new year – the Central Asian republic’s authoritarian regime seems more firmly entrenched than ever. That is due in part to the intervention of Moscow, through its post-Soviet military alliance, the six-member Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The crisis in Kazakhstan has turned the CSTO from what formerly looked like a paper tiger into a functioning tool of regional elite solidarity. Now, its future goals will likely be to crush attempts at regime change and enforce pro-Moscow geopolitical alignment across a space that contains several emerging states that have yet to solidify strong national identities amid the turbulence and power struggles of the still-collapsing former USSR.

“Moscow was afraid that the state system in Kazakhstan might collapse, and if that happened the consequences for Russia and the region would be huge,” says Fyodor Lukyanov, a leading Russian foreign policy analyst. “Turmoil across this region is common, and to be expected, so there are signs that Russia has been developing these tools for some time.

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Dear CCI Friends,

Again Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and briefer of the President’s Daily Brief under President Reagan, forces us to comprehend the consequences of today’s U.S. political leaders’ actions in the world. Study Ray McGovern’s latest piece.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Antiwar.com

Ray McGovern: Peeking Past the Pall Put OverArms Talks With Russia

January 14, 2022
By Ray McGovern

Western media are painting an image of gross failure for Russia at the U.S.-Russia bilateral talks in Geneva, as well as subsequent talks between Russia and NATO in Brussels and the Organization for Co-operation and Security in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna.

Adamant! is the impression being fostered by both Russia and the West (largely for domestic consumption): Russia will continue to oppose NATO membership for countries like Ukraine and Georgia; NATO, for its part, will continue to reject Russian opposition as “none of your business”. (Bear in mind that Ukraine and Georgia are each several years away from qualifying for NATO membership in any case.)

The corporate media takeaway is that Russian President Vladimir Putin abjectly failed to get the West to agree formally on no further expansion of NATO and that, in these circumstances, no one can divine how he might lash out (maybe invade Ukraine?). World War III, anyone?

Did Western pundits really believe that Putin expected early acquiescence to that “non-starter” proposal on NATO expansion? Far easier to make believe he did, show how he went down to defeat, and conveniently ignore signs of real progress with respect to what Moscow’s (and President Joe Biden’s) actual priorities are.

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