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The claims for Russian imperialism
By John Lloyd The more or less liberal, democratic, capitalist countries that make up seven of the Group of Eight (G8) have condemned Russia and are discussing boycotting the June G8 meeting in Sochi....
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The coming Slav crash
By John Lloyd Ukraine is not the only crisis to emerge from the former Soviet Union. It’s the most immediate and most immediately dangerous. But beyond the stunning images of boiling demonstrations in...
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The retreat of the Eastern partnership
By John Lloyd The Russian bear must be left with meat after its early spring hunt. The hard part is: how much? The veteran strategist Edward Luttwak argues for a “re-engineering” of Ukraine that would...
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Will the anaconda strike again?
By John Lloyd Ukraine is now a pile of dry straw, waiting for Vladimir Putin to decide whether he will douse it with gasoline and set it alight, or leave it dry and trembling in the wind. Putin has...
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The coalition of the reluctant
By John Lloyd Russia is currently winning the Game of Empire. It has taken Crimea and it is closing in on Eastern Ukraine. Whether or not more will be invaded, no one can tell. We are not accustomed to...
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For Russia, it can only get worse
By John Lloyd Russians who disapprove of what their country is doing to Ukraine are a small and unpopular minority. The boldest champion of dissent, Alexei Navalny, is under house arrest. He and his...
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Eurovision’s Conchita brings out Russia’s worst and Europe’s best
By John Lloyd The most complicated thing said over this past weekend by a public figure came from the perfectly rouged lips of the winner of the Eurovision song contest, Conchita Wurst. “I really...
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Are we at war? And why can’t we be sure anymore?
By John Lloyd The question — “Are we at war?” — seems absurd. Surely, we would know it if we were. But maybe we’re in a new era — and wars are creeping up on us. In the decade after the collapse of...
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Could Vladimir Putin give peace a chance in Ukraine and beyond?
By John Lloyd What would it take for Russia to walk a way from violence and seek peaceful coexistence with its neighbors? It’s certainly hard to see a way out right now. The dogs of war in the east...
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Meet Vladimir Putin’s homophobic, vitriolic, charismatic master of propaganda
By John Lloyd Russian President Vladimir Putin’s popularity has soared at home in the wake of his actions in Ukraine – and the masterful spin his intervention has been given. The joy that greeted...
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Russian ‘realism’ is winning now, but will fail in the end
By John Lloyd The world is no longer divided by communism vs. capitalism. But it’s still divided by ideologies that have their clearest expression in the policies of Russia and the United States. That...
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In clashes over Ukraine or Iraq, liberty must be defended
By John Lloyd A few weeks after Winston Churchill became British prime minister in 1940, he had to tell the House of Commons that Britain had just suffered one of the worst military defeats in its...
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Ukraine’s future lies with the West, but there is much suffering ahead
By John Lloyd Ukraine did something very Ukrainian this week. It sued for peace with Russia, apparently confirming a centuries-old subordination to Big Brother to the east. Yulia Tymoshenko, the former...
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Ukraine’s vote proves Putin wrong and puts anti-Semitic past behind
By John Lloyd One of the themes that Russian President Vladimir Putin tried out to besmirch the Ukrainian revolt against pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich earlier this year was that fascists and...
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The whining of the militants
By John Lloyd A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has made what would be his first public appearance at a mosque in the centre of Iraq's second...
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