We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, June 5, 2015

Breaking the promise to Russia

Click here to access article by Jonathan Power from TFF Associates.

Power supplies us with a well-researched piece that provides details on Gorbechev's claim that there were promises and assurances made to him at the end of the Cold War.
At the end of the Cold War and with agreement on the NATO-Russia Founding Act it seemed that big steps towards that goal were being taken. First, Russia would have a seat at NATO’s table. Later it would join NATO. Later still, the European Union. Some said this would happen over ten years, others 20.
.... As ex-Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has said on many occasions there was a promise not to expand NATO “as much as a thumb’s width further to the East.” 
Meanwhile, back at the Empire's ranch we see that the Empire's war lords are continuing to taunt Russia by planting stories in mainstream media suggesting additional nuclear threats directed toward Russia. Are they trying to intimidate Russian leaders or to bait a Russian aggressive response? Surely they can't be so ignorant as to believe that they can intimidate Russian leadership. Or, are they looking for excuses to ramp up their nuclear weapons in Europe in preparation for a war against Russia?