Blog // International security
November 22nd, 2016 | International security | By Harlan K. Ullman
Inside Putin’s brain II
Last week’s column concluded that President Vladimir Putin was “licking his chops” over the election of Donald Trump as the next American president. This column goes further in explaining why Mr. Putin will be one winner of this extraordinary election. Let’s assume this conversation is taking place in the Kremlin between President Putin (PP) and […]
November 15th, 2016 | International security | By Harlan K. Ullman
Putin and America’s day of national mourning
Bucharest, Romania: The election is over! But is it? The consequences will be measured over decades. President-elect Donald J. Trump is headed for an incredible rough ride even before he is inaugurated on January 20th, 2017. Abroad, rivals and adversaries from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jingping, Iran’s Grand Ayatollah to the Islamic […]
November 10th, 2016 | International security | By Radu Magdin
US policy toward Romania will not change
Political analyst Radu Magdin argues that the US policy toward Romania will not change following the recent presidential election in the US, but a more pragmatic approach, much closer to the transactional business style of Donald Trump will become visible. “I would say that Romania and other NATO member states will have to reach their […]
November 7th, 2016 | International security | By Harlan K. Ullman
Two flaws do not make a right
By a wide majority, Americans do not like, do not trust and would prefer to have different candidates running for the presidency. Tomorrow could be a national day of mourning when Americans go to the polls to elect the next president. Both candidates are profoundly flawed. And a good bet is that no matter who […]
November 1st, 2016 | International security | By Harlan K. Ullman
Putin on Halloween: a case of shock and awe
Today is Halloween in America. Children (and some adults) dress up in costumes ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Frankenstein and Zombies to “trick or treat” in search of candy and other goodies from generous neighbors. Some of the costumes are meant to “shock and awe” expecting more generous handouts in exchange for restraint in […]
October 25th, 2016 | International security | By Harlan K. Ullman
P/E not Putin is the immediate danger
If you are worried about the future, READ THIS! From Nigeria on the west coast of Africa to the Pacific Ocean, dire is a fair description of events. Boko Haram, the Islamic State and radical Islam have infected several continents. Iraqi forces are attempting to retake Mosul from IS insurgents. If or when they do, […]
October 18th, 2016 | International security | By Harlan K. Ullman
Putin’s not so secret, secret plan
Five decades ago, a popular song in America was Doris Day’s “My Secret Love.” The American ambassador to Laos, William Sullivan, was increasingly upset that the Nixon Administration’s cherished secret war in Laos in 1970 was being leaked to the press. Playing off the song’s last line, Sullivan fired a cable to the White House […]
October 12th, 2016 | International security | By Harlan K. Ullman
Avoiding war with Russia
Several years before World War I exploded in 1914 while war clouds were enveloping Europe, the outlook on the situation was vastly different in Paris and Berlin. At the Qui D’orsay in Paris, senior diplomats believed conditions in Europe were serious but not yet critical. Wags at the chancellery in Berlin demurred cynically concluding that […]
October 4th, 2016 | International security | By Dania Koleilat Khatib
Lebanon is one step away from Yemen
The last thing he world needs is another pit to breed extremists. Unfortunately, Lebanon is one step away from becoming this pit. Lebanon is one step away from becoming another Yemen. The Saudi Iranian rivalry that has expressed itself in the wake of the Arab spring has intensified the conflicts in Iraq Syria and Yemen. […]
October 4th, 2016 | International security | By Harlan K. Ullman
Why Putin will fail
Here is a prediction: Vladimir Putin is on a course to fail as president of the Russian Federation. Do not expect failure this year or even next. However, it is as inevitable as was the overthrow of party leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1964 and the implosion of the Soviet Union less than three decades later. […]
The 2017 edition of the Strategikon Annual Book – The Year of Challenging Choices
It’s not easy to be a leader, but the solution is closer than people may think and it has to do with returning to some good old fashioned traits that shaped leaders in past decades: will power, values and vision. Launched at the Good Governance Summit, The Year of Challenging Choices strives to understand the fault lines in international relations and the relevant actors, as they are and not how they appear to be.
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