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Lee Duffield provided an appraisal of the Ukraine war on day one; updated it seven months into the fighting; and here looks at dangerous portends for the coming months.
The article, amended here, was first published in Independent Australia on 15 January. … Read More »
Learning from history: It can be done but may require work and won’t tell everything you want to know.
The invasion of Ukraine by the neighbouring Russian Federation this year is a crisis of history, if this definition of such a crisis is accepted: an event affecting many people in a life-changing way, confounding all expectations, that will divert the general course of history from its pathway so far – the change will involve opportunity and danger.
Lee Duffield writes:
Elections in Europe have shown up the extent of a pro-Russia sympathy, whether drawing on some traditional alignments in Eastern Europe or stirred up by the far-right.
The voting has put a dent in solidarity against the Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war of aggression against neighbouring Ukraine. … Read More »
The horror and brutality of the siege of Mariupol is demonstrating a futility to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia under Vladimir Putin.
A month after Russian forced crossed border on 24 February, it appeared that Putin might still get some kind of quick conquest – but any lasting great victory remains much more elusive. … Read More »
There was a spurious relief in the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February: no more need for pretending, or false diplomacy, even no need for talk about rights and wrongs.
It is back to the raw power days, Russian tanks in Budapest in 1956, then again in Prague in 1968. Attempts at political reform and opening to the West came to that.
Defence Ministers of the NATO alliance have met to authorise formation of a bigger ready response force, to face off against Russia, as the conflict in Ukraine gets worse.
The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said the force strength would be built up from
13000 to 30000, with a strengthening also of the front-line “spearhead” force, that was supposed to be at 5000. … Read More »
The Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko has again called for help from the West after fresh outbreaks of fighting between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in Eastern parts of the country. … Read More »