How America Lost the Wars After the Cold War
October 25, 2019
“Nothing so needs reforming as other people’s habits.” – Mark Twain
“If you believe you can change – if you make it a habit – the change becomes real.” – Charles Duhigg
How America Lost the Wars After the Cold War
It’s politically disorganized, militarily weak, and relies heavily on the US for help in its five-year battle against a stronger authoritarian power that has already gobbled up a chuck of its territory. A sympathetic Congress appropriated almost $400 million in military aid for it, but President Trump held up the funds for three months, using them as leverage to extort a public announcement from the new Ukrainian president that was intended to damage Trump’s political rival, and benefit the president personally in his reelection bid.
Once the plot became public, the fallout in America was swift and rancorous. The administration finally released the aid package in September, so the question becomes: Did a three month delay damage Ukraine all that much?
In reality, Ukraine’s armed forces are holding on by their fingernails, and the signs of poverty are everywhere. Soldiers are waging war from inside muddy trenches cut through hundreds of miles of farmland, like it was done a century earlier in WWI. Aviation cannot be used — Russian anti-aircraft systems have cleared the skies.
The battle began in March 2014 with President Putin’s move to annex the Crimean Peninsula. Ever since, Russia has wielded the military advantage, slipping tanks, anti-aircraft weapons and soldiers into Ukraine at will. 13,000 Ukrainian lives have been lost so far.
The Trump administration agreed to provide the Ukrainian military with shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles called Javelins, but the decision came with a caveat: the missiles cannot be used in the war. So soldiers improvise — they stuff straw into empty uniforms to make dummies, and put logs on their shoulders to make it appear they’re carrying Javelins.
The Continuous Never-Ending Fall Of Eastern Europe
- After 1989’s breakup of the Soviet Union, a young American named John Feffer traveled extensively throughout eastern Europe, conducting interviews and gathering information, in the hope he could unravel the mystery of its post-communist future and write a book about the historical transformation unfolding before his eyes. At the time, Feffer found East Europeans to be optimistic, but also apprehensive — about who would emerge as powerful in the coming years, and who would be left behind.
- 25 years later, Feffer revisited the region and sought out those to whom he had spoken so many years earlier. This time, he found eastern Europe richer, but roiled by resentment. The capitalist future had arrived, but its benefits and burdens were unevenly, even stupidly, distributed.
- Many of the democracies that emerged at the end of the cold war had devolved into conspiracy-minded majoritarian regimes, where political opposition is demonized, non-government media, civil society and independent courts are stripped of their influence, and sovereignty is defined by the leadership’s determination to resist pressure to conform to western ideals of political pluralism, government transparency and tolerance for strangers, dissidents and minorities.
- Feffer writes: “For the World War II generation in eastern Europe, communism was the ‘god that failed.’ For the current generation … liberalism is the god that failed.” (Guardian)
Should Smart Phones Have Surgeon General Warning Signs
- When Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs pitched the iPhone in 2007, he said not only was it a phone, but a music player and internet communicator. Hard to believe that after just a few years, Apple’s head of marketing said this in an email: “We never imagined how a decade later iPhone would become such an essential part of our lives, from streaming TV shows and playing games, to finding directions when traveling, to managing health and fitness, to opening garages in smart homes, to sharing beautiful memories with stunning photos and videos.”
- CNET explores the impact of various technologies over the past decade, and decided none has changed our lives as dramatically as the smartphone. (CNET)
- How to stop looking at your phone: Don’t use it as an alarm, and other tips to break your insidious little habit. (Vox)
Why There Will Not be an October Revolution in 2019
- Last July more than 1,300 Russian citizens were arrested as they demonstrated against local elections. Thereafter law enforcement agencies conducted nationwide raids on news outlets critical of the Kremlin and on homes and offices of people affiliated with opposition leader Aleksei Navalny. Human rights groups are being ordered to disband.
- On Monday, the Kremlin announced an overhaul of the Human Rights Council, already a toothless body. Regardless, independent-minded members of the council were purged and loyalists from state news media and others known for their obedience were installed.
- This latest overarching wave of arrests against journalists, opposition activists, doctors, and religious believers is evidence of an ever-widening and truly frightening crackdown. (NYT)
Additional World News
- Johnson seeks 12 December election after shelving ‘do or die’ Brexit pledge: Labour refuses to give instant response to prime minister’s call for an early poll (Guardian)
- The world’s fastest growing cities (BBC)
- Jordan urged to stop imprisoning women for defying the wishes of men (Guardian)
- In India, Release of Hate Crime Data Depends on Who the Haters Are (NYT, $)
- Tensions highlight the importance of global trade (BBC)
- Children abused for decades at ‘sadistic’ London school, inquiry finds (Guardian)
Something is Rotten in the United States of America
- The testimony given to impeachment investigators by the senior US diplomat in Ukraine, William Taylor, differs starkly from that given by Trump’s ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland. Taylor, a decorated veteran and career foreign service diplomat with unassailable credentials, appeared before the committee with stacks of notes and documents to back up his testimony.
- Taylor disputes the claim made by Sondland, a wealthy hotelier and Trump campaign donor with no diplomatic experience, that he didn’t know of an alleged quid pro quo involving nearly $400 million in security aid to Ukraine.
- Some members of the House Intelligence Committee have begun calling for Sondland to return for additional questioning to reconcile the two diplomats’ accounts. Meanwhile, Sondland’s lawyer said his client either does not recall or disputes many of Taylor’s accusations. (WaPo)
- Justice Dept. Is Said to Open Criminal Inquiry Into Its Own Russia Investigation: The move is likely to open the attorney general to accusations that he is trying to deliver a political victory for President Trump. (NYT, $)
- When the White House wants to label bad news as fake news: White House to federal agencies: cancel New York Times and Washington Post subscriptions (Guardian)
Additional USA News
- Thousands evacuated as California wildfire rages (BBC)
- Fact Check: Do Robots Or Trade Threaten American Workers More? (NPR)
- TVs sold by Amazon and Best Buy ‘contain chemicals banned in Europe’: Several TV lines on sale in the US contain flame retardants linked to potential health problems, tests by public health campaigners find (Guardian)
- Study: US air pollution deaths increased by 9,700 a year from 2016 to 2018 – The increase might be due to overly lax policies from both Trump and Obama. (Vox)
- Trump Mentions a Wall in Colorado, Then Says He Was Kidding: “We’re building a wall in Colorado,” the president said on Wednesday. “We’re building a beautiful wall.” On Thursday, he said he had mentioned the state “kiddingly.” (NYT, $)
- Exclusive: Trump Wants To Pick Cuccinelli For DHS, But Worries Senate Would Balk (NPR)
- TikTok app poses potential national security risk, says senior Democrat: Chuck Schumer and Tom Cotton urged inquiry, noting app reportedly censors material such as Hong Kong protest content (Guardian)
- Mike Pence criticises NBA as ‘wholly owned subsidiary’ of China (BBC)
Breaking Bad Habits
- In the modern era, habits have become a significant area of scientific inquiry. Psychologists have explored the genesis of habitual behavior and its impact on health and happiness.
- Functional MRI scans have given researchers a peek into the respective neural networks that are active during rote and conscious tasks. A brain scan of someone learning a task shows activity in the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus, networks associated with decision-making and executive control.
- With repetition of a task, brain activity moves into areas of the putamen and the basal ganglia, deep in what Wood calls “the rudimentary machinery of our minds.” There, a task is turned into a habit.
- Her research has shown that our actions are habitual forty-three per cent of the time, which explains why conscious knowledge is not in itself enough to change behavior, and why public-health initiatives that educate people about healthy choices tend to fail. (New Yorker)
Weekend Reads
- We have the tools and technology to work less and live better (Aeon)
- Acting changes the brain: it’s how actors get lost in a role (Aeon)
- How fake news conquered the world: A new book explores the latest revolution in political propaganda. (Vox)
- Google Claims a Quantum Breakthrough That Could Change Computing (NYT, $)
- What would happen in an apocalyptic blackout? (BBC)
- Diversifying Crops Is Good For The Planet. But Can It Be Good For Farmers’ Wallets? (NPR)
- Itty-Bitty Satellites Take On Big-Time Science Missions (NPR) Meanwhile, millennials are also looking into space to determine their zodiac signs: Astrology in the Age of Uncertainty: Millennials who see no contradiction between using astrology and believing in science are fuelling a resurgence of the practice. (New Yorker, $)
LAST MORSELS
“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
– Gandhi