TRANSCENDING DAILY HEADLINES AND SOCIAL MEDIA SNARK

Longform, big-picture, detailed analysis of world events, politics, policy, & more with depth & context you won't find anywhere else.
Transcend the noise with an academic approach to news coverage from independent analyst, consultant, & historian Brian Frydenborg.

Named a “Top 60 Foreign Policy Blogs & Websites” site in 2020, 2021, & 2022

FEATURED STORIES

A Super-Short Guide to Why Ukraine is Kicking Russia’s Ass in Putin’s Ukraine War

How Ukraine Can Take Back Crimea from Putin’s Reeling Russian Military

Ukraine Will Easily Destroy or Sideline Russia’s Navy with Game-Changing Anti-Ship Missiles

The Real Context News Podcast #9: Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, on Democracy & War in Ukraine

Time for the Russian Army and Russian People to Revolt and Overthrow Putin

Putin’s Zombie Russian/Slavic Ethnonationalism Is Utterly Banal

How Best to Penetrate Putin’s Media Iron Curtain in Russia? Dead Russian Troops

On Casualty Counts in Russia’s War on Ukraine

A Look at Putin’s Disgraceful, Heartless, Barbaric Treatment of Russian Soldiers and Their Families

Putin’s NATO Narrative Is Bullshit

How to Lose Nations and Alienate People, by Vladimir Putin

Why Is Putin Doing All This Now?

January 6 Heralded Simple Yet Brutal Dichotomy of America that Defines Our Current Era

On Christianity, Ancient Rome, History, and Memory: A Christmas Season Reflection

A BIG F**KING DEAL: Biden’s Infrastructure Bill in Historical Perspective

9/11, Afghanistan, and the “War on Terror”: The Long View (& the Tragic One)

The Real Context News Podcast #8: Col. T. X. Hammes, USMC (Ret.), on Strategic Failure in Afghanistan

The Kabul Airlift in Light of the Berlin Airlift: Surprising Parallels and Important Lessons

The Real Context News Podcast #7: Col. Steve Miska, U.S. Army (Ret.) on the U.S. Withdrawal & Our Duty to Our Afghan Allies

The Urgent Questions About Cyberwarfare We Are Not Even Asking (But Must)

The U.S. Should Weaponize Europe’s Oil and Natural Gas Markets in an Economic Offensive Against Russia

Already in a Cyberwar with Russia, NATO Must Expand Article 5 to Include Cyberwarfare

Wading into Israel and Palestine Quicksand, Biden Offers a Diplomacy 101 Class for All

Death, Stupidity; Rinse, Repeat: What Is New, What Is Old in Latest Israeli-Palestinian Tragedy

The Iran Natanz Attack Sorta Happened in Star Wars: The Clone Wars (and in a way instructive for us all!)

Trump Impeachment Trial Shockingly Makes Shocking Insurrection Dramatically More Shocking

Trump’s Impeachment Trial Exceedingly Simple: No Excuse Not to Convict

The Real Context News Podcast #6: Georgia’s Secretary of State Raffensperger & Deputies Sterling, Fuchs on Election Integrity & Georgia Elections

The History of Russia’s Cyberwarfare Against NATO Shows It Is Time to Add to NATO’s Article 5

To Save the Republic, Trump and Trumpism MUST Be Defeated Now and Biden Must Take Office in January

Biden 291, Trump 247: My Election Day Electoral College Map

As America Votes, UK’s Russian Election Interference Report Should Be a Wake-Up Call to America

When Dirty Russian-Connected Money Saved Trump’s Ass and His Ensuing Business Disasters Helped Destroy the Global and American Economies

The Nexus of American Right-Wing and Kremlin Disinformation Exposes Trump-Russia’s Mechanics

The Real Context News Podcast #2: Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton Interview

Nationalism: A National Security Threat from Without and Within and one of Putin’s Favorite Weapons

The Real Context News Podcast Inaugural Episode: State of the Country (Media & Politics)

Hairgate: Speaker Pelosi, a Hair Salon Setup, and the Utter Stupidity of American Politics in 2020

A Proposal for a Department of Pandemic Preparedness and Response (DPPR): Protecting America from Poor Leadership, Politicization, and Competing Responses

The Lessons of V-J Day: As Necessary As Ever for an America and a World In Crisis

I Was Wrong about Harris. Why I Changed My Mind and How She Won Me Over.

Substance vs. Style as Biden Picks Harris over Rice

Based on Experience, Susan Rice Is Easily—by Far—the Best Choice for VP for Biden (Sorry Harris Fans, that Includes Kamala): A Tale of Two Careers

Numbers Show Clone Wars Has Dominated Streaming in 2020, Reached Huge Audience (I Hope Disney Gets the Message!!)

The Ten Levels of White Racism in America: A Useful Spectrum

Coronavirus Exposes U.S. As Unprepared for Biowarfare & Bioterrorism, Highlighting Traditional U.S. Weakness in Unconventional, Asymmetric Warfare

The Death Throes of the Failed Sandernista Revolution

The Best Guide to Super Tuesday (no, seriously): Biden’s Got This (and the Nomination)

Democrats Look Disastrous, But Biden May Yet Save Them from Themselves Starting in South Carolina; & Why Putin Boost Bernie Sanders

Iowa Caucuses: 2020 Predictions in Dark Times for a Process that Should Be Abolished

Iran, America, Poor Leadership, and the Thucydides Trap

The Untold Story of the Bidens and Burisma

Time to Play Hardball with Russia

A Song of Gas and Politics: How Ukraine Is at the Center of Trump-Russia, or, Ukrainegate: A “New” Phase in the Trump-Russia Saga Made from Recycled Materials (eBook preview/excerpt)

Ukrainegate Proves the Media Has Learned Almost Nothing from 2016

Bibi’s Trump Show: How Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Wins by Imitating the Donald

On Bourdain Day, His Life a Reminder to All that Anyone Can Speak Up for the Marginalized, Bring People Together

Game of Thrones and the Gift of Empathy

Barr Summary and Mueller Report Do Not Mean Trump Russia Is a Hoax. Far From It.

Much Ado About Omar: What Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s Fiercest Critics and Most Ardent Defenders Miss & How to Overcome the Toxic Discourse Surrounding Her

How Cohen’s and Manafort’s Ukraine Ties Tell the Deeper Story of Trump-Russia and the Mueller Probe

Cohen’s Shady Family Business Dealings’ Unexplored Links to Key Trump-Russia Figures Demand Scrutiny

Trump’s State of the Union: State of Meaninglessness

Crime Too Narrow As Main Lens to View Putin’s Masterpiece of Collusion

America’s Current Extraconstitutional Republic

SPECIAL REPORTS

PUTIN'S WAR ON UKRAINE

RUSSIA-NATO CYBERWAR

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

A Super-Short Guide to Why Ukraine is Kicking Russia’s Ass in Putin’s Ukraine War
A Super-Short Guide to Why Ukraine is Kicking Russia’s Ass in Putin’s Ukraine War
How Ukraine Can Take Back Crimea from Putin’s Reeling Russian Military
How Ukraine Can Take Back Crimea from Putin’s Reeling Russian Military
Ukraine Will Easily Destroy or Sideline Russia’s Navy with Game-Changing Anti-Ship Missiles
Ukraine Will Easily Destroy or Sideline Russia’s Navy with Game-Changing Anti-Ship Missiles
The Real Context News Podcast #9: Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, on Democracy & War in Ukraine
The Real Context News Podcast #9: Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, on Democracy & War in Ukraine
Time for the Russian Army and Russian People to Revolt and Overthrow Putin
Time for the Russian Army and Russian People to Revolt and Overthrow Putin
Putin’s Zombie Russian/Slavic Ethnonationalism Is Utterly Banal
Putin’s Zombie Russian/Slavic Ethnonationalism Is Utterly Banal
How Best to Penetrate Putin’s Media Iron Curtain in Russia? Dead Russian Troops
How Best to Penetrate Putin’s Media Iron Curtain in Russia? Dead Russian Troops
On Casualty Counts in Russia’s War on Ukraine
On Casualty Counts in Russia’s War on Ukraine
A Look at Putin’s Disgraceful, Heartless, Barbaric Treatment of Russian Soldiers and Their Families
A Look at Putin’s Disgraceful, Heartless, Barbaric Treatment of Russian Soldiers and Their Families
Putin’s NATO Narrative Is Bullshit
Putin’s NATO Narrative Is Bullshit

Latest News/Analysis

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Trump-Russia News/Analysis

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