Commentary

Pondering Russia’s (long standing) problem with truth

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A little more than a month ago, in mid-April, I came across an article on the website of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) titled “War of Unreality” that struck a deep, personal nerve. The piece, authored by ECFR Fellow Gustav Gressel, was written as both an observation and a warning. The observation was that Russia was engaged in creating an “alternate reality” – constantly positing a narrative of current events that flatly contradicted the way that the West (read the global community of democracies) thought about the world. The warning was that Russia’s attempts at ontological contrariness would sooner or later have dire consequences.

Newsbriefs

NEWSBRIEFS

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Lawmakers urged to adopt ‘anti-oligarch’ law
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged parliament on June 2 to adopt a proposed law he said would curb the influence of ‘oligarchs,’ or politically powerful business figures who have dominated the country for decades. The text has not been released, but the authorities say the bill will include a definition of oligarchs that applies to a small number of wealthy businessmen, and restrict their ability to shape policy.

News

Ukraine takes 5th place at Eurovision song contest

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KYIV – The electro-folk band Go_A took fifth place at Eurovision 2021 out of 33 participating countries. This was the first time that Ukraine’s entry had sung entirely in Ukrainian. The music contest was held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, between May 18 and 22.

Analysis

Ukraine’s new naval doctrine: a revision of the mosquito fleet strategy or bureaucratic inconsistency?

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For Ukraine, which lost more than 70 percent of its naval assets after Russia’s forcible annexation of Crimea, the ability to effectively deter and adequately respond to further aggressive Russian actions at sea is extremely important. The crucial nature of properly addressing this threat was reconfirmed earlier this spring (March-April), amidst the buildup of Russian heavy military forces around Ukraine’s borders, which notably included the deployment of offensive units to Crimea as well as the strengthening of its naval forces in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov (see Eurasia Daily Monitor, April 13, 27 [1][2][3], May 3).

For the record

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Menendez on Nord Stream 2

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Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on May 19 after Congress received a mandatory report from the State Department regarding entities involved in sanctionable activity by the builders of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Citing U.S. national security interests, the Biden administration announced it would waive mandatory sanctions on the company Nord Stream 2 AG and its CEO Matthias Warnig.