I appreciate your commentary on Russia’s place on the UN Security Council. They just waltzed in there after the Soviet Union fell, unchallenged by the other UN members as far as I am aware. This should be discussed more broadly. The fact that the PRC (China) also occupies a seat on the UNSC is also historically troubling, even if the circumstances around that are slightly different. Thank you for brining sunlight to these issues.
I am awaiting Trump’s reaction both to Putin’s legal problems and to Netanyahu’s efforts to demolish Israel’s judicial integrity. Personally, I believe that an individual who does not support the integrity of a judicial system abroad AND in the United States should be disqualified from running for the presidency of the United States.
You are tireless in this endeavour...courage isn’t the strength to go on..it’s going on when you have no strength..Napoleon...you have strength and courage in spades and are leading as much as any field commander at the front
Thank you very much for this clear and sharp article. It is the best way to explain to everyone the abominable Russian policy and how much and intensive work is being done by the best legal minds . As Benjamin Ferencz says: Never give up, Never give up, Never give up!
The fact that Russia " since the Russian Federation never formally joined the United Nations" should not be entitled to chair any committee of the UN or have a vote is thought-provoking. What would Eleanor Roosevelt have thought of Russia, today?
I hope it succeeds, but remember that it took considerable economic and diplomatic pressure on Serbia from the United States and Europe, after the war was already over, and after Slobodan Milošević was already in a Serbian prison, to get the Serbian government to deliver the former Serbian dictator to the international authorities.
Thank you so much for this tantalizing synopsis of current events, Dr. Snyder! It feels like the house of cards may be wobbling a bit. Justice moves glacially slow, but it does seem to be moving in this situation.
I highly recommend Sands' East West Street.
Reading through your insightful points has me thinking very deeply indeed. I am pondering, whether in the heady rush of adrenaline after the Soviet Union fell, the West (not just the US, but certainly including it) were so anxious to find something lucrative that they rushed to bolster the ego of Russia. The cold war was a powerful way to set apart "us and them." Without that distinction, and with the possibility of tapping into a whole new market (rich in resources and with a population acquiring money to spend), I think it was easy to try to find ways to benefit from the new state of affairs. Then, when Putin stepped in, fear of making waves and losing face made it very easy to overlook the bullying and gaslighting. I hope that we in the US can rally our courage and not only work on getting our own house in order (and keeping Trump out of it), but that we can also continue to support and encourage Ukraine in their fight for human rights and democracy. We could have a very good role model and ally in a victorious Ukraine.
A perceptive comment, thankyou. I too have a general memory of reading about the West's ruthless economic exploitation of a demoralised and chaotic Russia at that time. If my memory serves me correctly, it was mostly, but not only, the US, and it involved not only sophisticated financial manipulations, but also very crude siphoning of material valuables such as art treasures and precious jewels out of the country under one or another pretext.
I keep on thinking how vital it is, when fighting for justice elsewhere, always to be sure to check out our own history carefully to see whether any mea culpa might be in order before we launch into action. Self-knowledge invariably produces wiser and better actions, on both the individual level and that of the nation.
I don't mean to be oppositional for its sake. I just do not remember any siphoning of art treasures and other treasures surreptitiously or otherwise. Can you lead me to that information? I looked but did not find. I do remember how we tried to transition them to a more capitalist economy one and failed at it... a privatization and restructuring program. We wanted to facilitate the transition to democracy. We apparently gave tremendous economic assistance as well to the various states.
I don't think the goal of the cold war was to set us apart per se but more of a fear of communism spreading and containment (in George Kennan's view) and about the two superpowers vying for supremacy- at bottom about democracy human rights versus communism. This had us in bed with some unsavory characters true. It's a great history to review at this time. I think we are in or headed for another one of these cold wars... though different but basically about democracy versus autocracy/totalitarianism and aggression that is about (dwindling) resources and changes in the environment.
I agree that the goal of the cold war was not originally to set us apart, but I also think that the mechanism (the propaganda) was very much designed to set us apart (thinking of the "kitchen debate" and the efforts to paint the West as a place of domestic bliss, technological innovation, and the leisure of suburban living -- of course this was highlighting life for white Americans, not people of color).
We were ignoring our own deep problems about inequality and racism trying to sell our ideology ( or experiment) of democracy and freedom which made us a look hypocritical especially with regard to people of color. We hardly have bliss but I would not want to live in Russia or China. Communists had an ideology that they were perverting or distorting to authoritarianism/totalitarianism and one party rule.. vowing to conquer us. This scared the bejesus out of us... and still in some minds. There is a continuation of this struggle- their weaknesses and strengths versus ours. I see their stronger weaknesses now though we are very vulnerable, still experimental (learning hopefully), and hypocritical. Human nature is the same especially with regard to the struggle for power, supremacy. Globally, we don't seem to be able to switch this off to cooperating globally- especially now when we need it. We need to be just as frightened as we were then, if not more.
LOVED this juxtaposition. Russian version of the FBI announces it will investigate the prosecutor and judge of the ICC who got judgement that Putin was a war criminal. At the same time, McCarthy and his fellow GOP House committee chairs announce they will investigate Alvin Bragg if he brings charges against Donal Trump. Can't. Get. Much. Clearer.
I feel not so helpless in front of what's done by the government of a large country because we are given arguments and analysis that have teeth. Deep clear thinking are their root.
The whole issue of Russia’s privileged status in the UN boils down to nuclear weapons. Do we want it floating out in the ether with the nukes or over privileged and with nukes but inside the UN?
Though it might seem so, that's not the case. The permanent seats on the Security Council went to the major victors of WW2. There have been calls for reform, but that would require unanimous approval; the sole issue upon which the permanent members stand in unanimity is in opposition to giving up their veto power.
Before we in the US condemn others we might well consider modifying our own behavior, both as an aggressor and as a protector of criminal acts by some of our allies.
When the UN was formed only the US had nukes. You are right there. It was necessary then to give the WWII great-power victors a free hand in their own actions to get them to commit to the UN. But that was then. Now a much weakened Russia relies on nukes to prevent any deep reform of the UN.
New nuclear threats were made today by Russian hardliners. If a country tried to arrest Putin, Russia should launch an immediate nuclear attack. Crazy, as that would kill Putin in that country.
I think that was Medvedev who seems to have lost his marbles, talking about a Russian submarine nuking The Hague. But nukes used at close range can bite the aggressor, for sure, depending on the weather and how well protected people in the way are.
Medvedev seems to have that role now for the Political Technologists, the hardliner, so far right that Putin seems totally reasonable and moderate to the masses.
Agree. I quess it’s hard to know you are dealing with a Stalin or Hitler, until they do Stalin/Hitler things. But Putin did start saying things in 2007 in Munich, we should have listened and thought about it.
Thank you for helping us understand so many aspects of this charge as it winds it’s way through UN protocol and procedures!
I appreciate your commentary on Russia’s place on the UN Security Council. They just waltzed in there after the Soviet Union fell, unchallenged by the other UN members as far as I am aware. This should be discussed more broadly. The fact that the PRC (China) also occupies a seat on the UNSC is also historically troubling, even if the circumstances around that are slightly different. Thank you for brining sunlight to these issues.
I am awaiting Trump’s reaction both to Putin’s legal problems and to Netanyahu’s efforts to demolish Israel’s judicial integrity. Personally, I believe that an individual who does not support the integrity of a judicial system abroad AND in the United States should be disqualified from running for the presidency of the United States.
You are tireless in this endeavour...courage isn’t the strength to go on..it’s going on when you have no strength..Napoleon...you have strength and courage in spades and are leading as much as any field commander at the front
Thank you very much for this clear and sharp article. It is the best way to explain to everyone the abominable Russian policy and how much and intensive work is being done by the best legal minds . As Benjamin Ferencz says: Never give up, Never give up, Never give up!
The fact that Russia " since the Russian Federation never formally joined the United Nations" should not be entitled to chair any committee of the UN or have a vote is thought-provoking. What would Eleanor Roosevelt have thought of Russia, today?
I hope it succeeds, but remember that it took considerable economic and diplomatic pressure on Serbia from the United States and Europe, after the war was already over, and after Slobodan Milošević was already in a Serbian prison, to get the Serbian government to deliver the former Serbian dictator to the international authorities.
Thank you Professor Snyder.
Amazing! Dear Mr. Snyder, Thank you for your insightful information.
Thank you so much for this tantalizing synopsis of current events, Dr. Snyder! It feels like the house of cards may be wobbling a bit. Justice moves glacially slow, but it does seem to be moving in this situation.
I highly recommend Sands' East West Street.
Reading through your insightful points has me thinking very deeply indeed. I am pondering, whether in the heady rush of adrenaline after the Soviet Union fell, the West (not just the US, but certainly including it) were so anxious to find something lucrative that they rushed to bolster the ego of Russia. The cold war was a powerful way to set apart "us and them." Without that distinction, and with the possibility of tapping into a whole new market (rich in resources and with a population acquiring money to spend), I think it was easy to try to find ways to benefit from the new state of affairs. Then, when Putin stepped in, fear of making waves and losing face made it very easy to overlook the bullying and gaslighting. I hope that we in the US can rally our courage and not only work on getting our own house in order (and keeping Trump out of it), but that we can also continue to support and encourage Ukraine in their fight for human rights and democracy. We could have a very good role model and ally in a victorious Ukraine.
A perceptive comment, thankyou. I too have a general memory of reading about the West's ruthless economic exploitation of a demoralised and chaotic Russia at that time. If my memory serves me correctly, it was mostly, but not only, the US, and it involved not only sophisticated financial manipulations, but also very crude siphoning of material valuables such as art treasures and precious jewels out of the country under one or another pretext.
I keep on thinking how vital it is, when fighting for justice elsewhere, always to be sure to check out our own history carefully to see whether any mea culpa might be in order before we launch into action. Self-knowledge invariably produces wiser and better actions, on both the individual level and that of the nation.
That said, Slava Ukraine!
I don't mean to be oppositional for its sake. I just do not remember any siphoning of art treasures and other treasures surreptitiously or otherwise. Can you lead me to that information? I looked but did not find. I do remember how we tried to transition them to a more capitalist economy one and failed at it... a privatization and restructuring program. We wanted to facilitate the transition to democracy. We apparently gave tremendous economic assistance as well to the various states.
I agree with your second paragraph.
I don't think the goal of the cold war was to set us apart per se but more of a fear of communism spreading and containment (in George Kennan's view) and about the two superpowers vying for supremacy- at bottom about democracy human rights versus communism. This had us in bed with some unsavory characters true. It's a great history to review at this time. I think we are in or headed for another one of these cold wars... though different but basically about democracy versus autocracy/totalitarianism and aggression that is about (dwindling) resources and changes in the environment.
I agree that the goal of the cold war was not originally to set us apart, but I also think that the mechanism (the propaganda) was very much designed to set us apart (thinking of the "kitchen debate" and the efforts to paint the West as a place of domestic bliss, technological innovation, and the leisure of suburban living -- of course this was highlighting life for white Americans, not people of color).
We were ignoring our own deep problems about inequality and racism trying to sell our ideology ( or experiment) of democracy and freedom which made us a look hypocritical especially with regard to people of color. We hardly have bliss but I would not want to live in Russia or China. Communists had an ideology that they were perverting or distorting to authoritarianism/totalitarianism and one party rule.. vowing to conquer us. This scared the bejesus out of us... and still in some minds. There is a continuation of this struggle- their weaknesses and strengths versus ours. I see their stronger weaknesses now though we are very vulnerable, still experimental (learning hopefully), and hypocritical. Human nature is the same especially with regard to the struggle for power, supremacy. Globally, we don't seem to be able to switch this off to cooperating globally- especially now when we need it. We need to be just as frightened as we were then, if not more.
Meanwhile, G20 crowd laughs at Lavrov’s claim Ukraine war ‘was launched against us’.
Autocrats always underestimate democracy 🤭
LOVED this juxtaposition. Russian version of the FBI announces it will investigate the prosecutor and judge of the ICC who got judgement that Putin was a war criminal. At the same time, McCarthy and his fellow GOP House committee chairs announce they will investigate Alvin Bragg if he brings charges against Donal Trump. Can't. Get. Much. Clearer.
Would that national news periodicals had articles on this issue half as knowledgeable and sharp as this!
Or even local news too?
I feel not so helpless in front of what's done by the government of a large country because we are given arguments and analysis that have teeth. Deep clear thinking are their root.
I wish you would run for president. Thanks for this article as it was so informative.
The whole issue of Russia’s privileged status in the UN boils down to nuclear weapons. Do we want it floating out in the ether with the nukes or over privileged and with nukes but inside the UN?
Though it might seem so, that's not the case. The permanent seats on the Security Council went to the major victors of WW2. There have been calls for reform, but that would require unanimous approval; the sole issue upon which the permanent members stand in unanimity is in opposition to giving up their veto power.
Before we in the US condemn others we might well consider modifying our own behavior, both as an aggressor and as a protector of criminal acts by some of our allies.
When the UN was formed only the US had nukes. You are right there. It was necessary then to give the WWII great-power victors a free hand in their own actions to get them to commit to the UN. But that was then. Now a much weakened Russia relies on nukes to prevent any deep reform of the UN.
New nuclear threats were made today by Russian hardliners. If a country tried to arrest Putin, Russia should launch an immediate nuclear attack. Crazy, as that would kill Putin in that country.
I think that was Medvedev who seems to have lost his marbles, talking about a Russian submarine nuking The Hague. But nukes used at close range can bite the aggressor, for sure, depending on the weather and how well protected people in the way are.
Medvedev seems to have that role now for the Political Technologists, the hardliner, so far right that Putin seems totally reasonable and moderate to the masses.
It’s pitiful. I remember M from the early days of the Obama adm. when he visited Silicon Valley etc.
Agree. I quess it’s hard to know you are dealing with a Stalin or Hitler, until they do Stalin/Hitler things. But Putin did start saying things in 2007 in Munich, we should have listened and thought about it.
Cheap Russian gas was the drug that hooked the EU on Putin, except France which had nuclear.