Bringing Russian and American citizens together in Peace since 1983.
Dear CCI Friends,
Here is a practical note from the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity on moving away from war and toward peace in Europe. May the powers that be recognize and appreciate the source.
Read more on Arms Control: Toward Lasting Peace from Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)
The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues:
We were saddened to learn this week of the death of Edward Lozansky on April 30, 2025.
Edward was a physicist, a Soviet dissident, a composer, the President of the American University in Moscow (now Moscow International University), a loving husband and father, a dear friend to many and a lifelong advocate for peace.
Our sincere condolences to his wife Tatiana, his children, and his many, many friends around the world.
Remembering Edward Lozansky, Towering Prophet of Sanity, Decency and Peace – Pluralia
The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Dear CCI Friends,
Distinguishing reality from creative narrative is a day-to-day challenge in a world of sophisticated, high-powered propaganda. Fortunately for us, there are many truth warriors out there who are up to the task.
Joe Lauria at Consortium News is, in our opinion, fearless in his insistence on historical accuracy in the face of relentless, ongoing revisionism. Please let us know if you find any inaccuracies, or misleading spin, in this rather dry recitation of dates, names, and quotes.
“Neo-Nazi Influence in Ukraine”
From Professor Geoffrey Roberts in Britain, by way of writer Eugene Doyle in Wellington, NZ, comes a refreshing look at the seemingly unkillable beast known as ‘Russophobia.’
“The Courage to Oppose a Dominant Discourse”
And from Tucker Carlson, an interview with an American journalist who has been reporting from the Russian side of the war in Ukraine for three years.
“The Lone American”
https://tuckercarlson.com/tucker-show-patrick-lancaster
As always, your thoughts and impressions are welcomed and appreciated.
The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Dear CCI Colleagues,
Edward Lozansky, President of the American University in Moscow, has been focused recently on the upcoming 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. That focus includes the war time relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States as close allies in the fight to defeat Nazi Germany. In recognition of that shared struggle and victory, commemorative celebrations of the ‘Spirit of the Elbe’ are being held in multiple locations in Russia now through May 9.
We have to ask, where is the similar celebratory recognition to be seen in the United States or in Europe today?
We consider Edward Lozansky a friend of CCI and we are pleased to share his recent article in Pluralia with you. We also share his dismay at the obvious lack of respect shown by much of the EU leadership toward the significance of the combined allies’ sacrifices to defeat Nazism.
“In the latest display of how low the so-called Western values in Europe have deteriorated, the EU leadership is urging the heads of this block’s states against participating in Moscow’s May 9 celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in WWII.”
https://pluralia.com/en/a/toward-a-historic-peace-summit
We send best wishes to all who are celebrating this historic event.
Sincerely,
The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Dear CCI Friends,
Keeping up with the day-to-day news of US/Russia relations and the war in Ukraine is a discouraging roller coaster ride. Military advances, peace talks, military losses, cease fires, threats, assurances – all part of the daily news and all, apparently, part of the process of fighting a war to the end, on the one hand, while attempting to negotiate the same war to an end on the other. It’s exhausting for observers, exhausting and deadly for the active participants.
And throughout all of this the constant, irritating, nagging question persists: ‘How did we get here?’ Or perhaps it might be more honest to ask, ‘How did we allow ourselves to be led into this morass?’
Thanks to authors such as Ian Proud and Kit Klarenberg (whom we featured last week and appreciate more and more for his dedication to truly investigative journalism), we can follow the step-by-step progression of recent history. We hope you find the following articles engaging.
“In a recent interview, Boris Johnson admitted that the Minsk 2 agreement fell apart because ‘the Ukrainian nationalists couldn’t accept the compromise’ that President Zelensky wanted to agree with President Putin.
Claiming that Russia reneged on the Minsk Agreements has been a standard attack line from the west in the past, including from Johnson. Johnson has simply revealed what many already knew, that it was also wilfully inaccurate.”
The Ukrainians failed to confront ultranationalists to secure peace in the Donbas
“There is no knowing what British intelligence might have in store to prevent long-overdue peace prevailing at last, but the consequences could be world-threatening.”
It’s Official: Ukraine Conflict is British ‘Proxy War’
As always, please let us know your thoughts.
The Directors
Center for Citizen Initiatives