Matthew Chapman
February 24, 2022
Vladimir Putin (Shutterstock)
On Thursday, The Daily Beast flagged that Novaya Gazeta, one of the few independent newspapers in Russia, has shared evidence that Vladimir Putin's announcement declaring war on Ukraine was filmed three days before the announcement was actually aired — yet more evidence that the conflict and the justifications for it were carefully scripted and planned by the Kremlin.
"The newspaper, whose editor-in-chief shared last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, published on its Twitter feed what it said was metadata from the Kremlin website showing that the video was recorded on Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. Moscow time," reported Philippe Naughton. "Separately, the Russian-based Conflict Intelligence Team pointed out that Putin was wearing the exact same suit and tie in Thursday’s broadcast as he wore when he announced that Russia was to recognize two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine — the prelude to all-out war."
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, ostensibly to protect Russian-backed separatists who have declared two so-called "independent republics" in the east of the country, has moved blindingly fast, with gunfire and shelling already reported near the capital city of Kyiv.
Counter-corruption adviser to Congress reveals list of 'US lobbyists serving Putin'
Sarah K. Burris
February 24, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the presidential rights council via a video link on December 9, 2021. Mikhail Metzel SPUTNIK/AFP
Counter-corruption adviser to Congress Paul Massaro posted a list showing the American lobbying firms that he says are "serving Putin.
The list ranges from those dealing with trade and stock to global finances.
Massaro has urged strict sanctions that go into the heart of every possible financial tie to Moscow, even if they're front companies.
The US and UK have announced some preliminary sanctions. The EU is anticipated to take steps too, which could help target the oligarchs with money stashed through European banks.
Massaro wants to see the UK target the oligarchs, however, which some believe would put increased pressure on Putin.
Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that "severe sanctions" are needed.
Sarah K. Burris
February 24, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting of the presidential rights council via a video link on December 9, 2021. Mikhail Metzel SPUTNIK/AFP
Counter-corruption adviser to Congress Paul Massaro posted a list showing the American lobbying firms that he says are "serving Putin.
The list ranges from those dealing with trade and stock to global finances.
Massaro has urged strict sanctions that go into the heart of every possible financial tie to Moscow, even if they're front companies.
The US and UK have announced some preliminary sanctions. The EU is anticipated to take steps too, which could help target the oligarchs with money stashed through European banks.
Massaro wants to see the UK target the oligarchs, however, which some believe would put increased pressure on Putin.
Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that "severe sanctions" are needed.
'Putin has stopped pretending': Political scientist warns autocrats are brazenly 'trying to remake the world in their image'
Alex Henderson, AlterNet
February 24, 2022
Annual Direct Line with Vladimir Putin in Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin" live call-in show. - -/Kremlin/dpa
When far-right Donald Trump supporters viciously attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 — some of whom set up a hangman’s gallows for then-Vice President Mike Pence outside — people all around the world asked, “If democracy isn’t safe in the United States, where it is safe?” And as MAGA Republicans in state legislatures introduce one draconian voter suppression bill after another, it is painfully obvious that many of them believe the U.S. should move in the direction of authoritarians like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin — both of whom are openly admired by Trump and Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, even as Russian forces invade Ukraine.
Democracy is under assault all over the world, from the U.S. to Brazil to Eastern Europe. Journalist and political scientist Yascha Mounk examines the growth of authoritarianism in a disturbing article published by The Atlantic on February 24. And Mounk, a native of Munich, Germany and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, warns that the world finds itself in an increasingly dangerous position.
“Vladimir Putin has stopped pretending,” Mounk laments. “For months, the Russian president had claimed that he was merely interested in the security of his nation…. Then, he ordered a full-scale attack on a sovereign nation. Russian missiles blew up targets in key cities, including Kyiv, Lviv, and Kharkiv. Russian troops rapidly advanced into Ukrainian territory. War has returned to the heart of Europe.”
Mounk covers a lot of ground in his article, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the January 6, 2021 insurrection to the military junta in Myanmar — describing all of those things as examples of authoritarianism continuing to advance.
“The attack on Ukraine coincided with the long-planned publication of a Freedom House report on the state of democracy in the world,” Mounk observes. “As this year’s report went live on the organization’s website, just after midnight this morning, CNN was showing live pictures of Russian troops advancing across the border and billowing towers of smoke rising above major Ukrainian cities. Based on meticulous monitoring of developments in every corner of the globe, Freedom House finds that the world has entered the 16th consecutive year of what the political scientist Larry Diamond has termed a ‘democratic recession.’”
Describing Freedom House’s findings, Mounk offers a lot of reasons to be worried.
“In 2021, the number of countries moving away from democracy once again exceeded the number of countries moving toward it by a big margin,” Mounk notes. “Democratic institutions and civil rights deteriorated in 60 countries, with Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Tunisia, and Sudan experiencing especially precipitous declines. At the beginning of the democratic recession, about half of the world’s population lived in a country classified as ‘free.’ Now, only two out of every ten people do.”
“Assaults on democracy,” Mounk warns, have “grown much more brazen.”
“Many democracies are now rife with acrid divisions and face domestic challenges to their stability; this strain on democratic institutions is especially pronounced in the United States,” Mounk observes. “And the power of the democratic world is being challenged by a rising China and a revanchist Russia; the world’s dictators can turn to resurgent authoritarian regimes for economic investments, military supplies and international legitimacy.”
Mounk continues, “All of this helps explain why the world’s dictators are taking off their masks. Autocratic leaders, from Myanmar to Nicaragua, no longer feel constrained by the need to maintain some semblance of democratic legitimacy or appease the State Department. And those dictators, like Vladimir Putin, who also have significant military might at their disposal, are now trying to remake the world order in their image.”
Alex Henderson, AlterNet
February 24, 2022
Annual Direct Line with Vladimir Putin in Moscow - Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin" live call-in show. - -/Kremlin/dpa
When far-right Donald Trump supporters viciously attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021 — some of whom set up a hangman’s gallows for then-Vice President Mike Pence outside — people all around the world asked, “If democracy isn’t safe in the United States, where it is safe?” And as MAGA Republicans in state legislatures introduce one draconian voter suppression bill after another, it is painfully obvious that many of them believe the U.S. should move in the direction of authoritarians like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin — both of whom are openly admired by Trump and Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, even as Russian forces invade Ukraine.
Democracy is under assault all over the world, from the U.S. to Brazil to Eastern Europe. Journalist and political scientist Yascha Mounk examines the growth of authoritarianism in a disturbing article published by The Atlantic on February 24. And Mounk, a native of Munich, Germany and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, warns that the world finds itself in an increasingly dangerous position.
“Vladimir Putin has stopped pretending,” Mounk laments. “For months, the Russian president had claimed that he was merely interested in the security of his nation…. Then, he ordered a full-scale attack on a sovereign nation. Russian missiles blew up targets in key cities, including Kyiv, Lviv, and Kharkiv. Russian troops rapidly advanced into Ukrainian territory. War has returned to the heart of Europe.”
Mounk covers a lot of ground in his article, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the January 6, 2021 insurrection to the military junta in Myanmar — describing all of those things as examples of authoritarianism continuing to advance.
“The attack on Ukraine coincided with the long-planned publication of a Freedom House report on the state of democracy in the world,” Mounk observes. “As this year’s report went live on the organization’s website, just after midnight this morning, CNN was showing live pictures of Russian troops advancing across the border and billowing towers of smoke rising above major Ukrainian cities. Based on meticulous monitoring of developments in every corner of the globe, Freedom House finds that the world has entered the 16th consecutive year of what the political scientist Larry Diamond has termed a ‘democratic recession.’”
Describing Freedom House’s findings, Mounk offers a lot of reasons to be worried.
“In 2021, the number of countries moving away from democracy once again exceeded the number of countries moving toward it by a big margin,” Mounk notes. “Democratic institutions and civil rights deteriorated in 60 countries, with Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Tunisia, and Sudan experiencing especially precipitous declines. At the beginning of the democratic recession, about half of the world’s population lived in a country classified as ‘free.’ Now, only two out of every ten people do.”
“Assaults on democracy,” Mounk warns, have “grown much more brazen.”
“Many democracies are now rife with acrid divisions and face domestic challenges to their stability; this strain on democratic institutions is especially pronounced in the United States,” Mounk observes. “And the power of the democratic world is being challenged by a rising China and a revanchist Russia; the world’s dictators can turn to resurgent authoritarian regimes for economic investments, military supplies and international legitimacy.”
Mounk continues, “All of this helps explain why the world’s dictators are taking off their masks. Autocratic leaders, from Myanmar to Nicaragua, no longer feel constrained by the need to maintain some semblance of democratic legitimacy or appease the State Department. And those dictators, like Vladimir Putin, who also have significant military might at their disposal, are now trying to remake the world order in their image.”
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