Europe News & Analysis (including Russia/CIS)
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)
A preview of an Epic Saga with companion sections in fifteen parts By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter@bfry1981) November 24, 2019 (Update: December 7, 2019: we now know Giuliani has been meeting in Ukraine with Andrii Artemenko and is ...
Ukrainegate Proves the Media Has Learned Almost Nothing from 2016
The dangerous myopia of the media must be corrected or opponents of Trump—including the free press—have little chance to topple him in 2020 By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @bfry1981) November 19, 2019; see Brian's related brand-new e-Book, from which this below piece ...
How Cohen’s and Manafort’s Ukraine Ties Tell the Deeper Story of Trump-Russia and the Mueller Probe
Both Cohen and Manafort have close ties to people close to Putin’s Russian mafia henchmen and who are central to Trump-Russia. Their work is closer than most previous analysis has indicated, and to understand the overlap to understand the Trump-Russia ...
Cohen’s Shady Family Business Dealings’ Unexplored Links to Key Trump-Russia Figures Demand Scrutiny
Trump’s Former Fixer’s Three Congressional Hearings Beginning Today Are a Great Opportunity to Demand Answers to Key Unsolved Mysteries that Show the Larger Trump-Russia Picture By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @bfry1981), February 26, 2019 CNN/Lawrence Crook Also see ...
9/11 and Global Tribalism
As the 90s closed out, humanity was coming together. Now it’s tearing itself apart. Originally published on LinkedIn Pulse September 22, 2018 By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter@bfry1981), September 11th-13th, 2018, and republished by Tuck Magazine September 24th; See ...
Republic of Georgia Shows Trump & His Fans Depressingly Normal: Just Another Ethno-centric Nationalist Movement
Author's note: as Trump's presidency unfolds into its third year, the idea that Trumpism really is little more than banal and racist ethnocentrism is only more obvious than it was a little less than a month before his election, when ...
9/11 Marked Continuation, Not Beginning, of Politicization of Foreign Policy & National Security
Rather than signify any beginning of weaponizing foreign policy and national security in politics, the 9/11 attacks simply marked the next stage in the progression of Republicans breaking a general Cold War trend of bipartisanship and moderation when it came ...
Erdogan Leads Turkey’s Democracy on a Populist Death March After Failed Coup
In my previous piece on Turkey, written as the coup attempt was underway, I noted that should the coup fail, Erdoğan would simply accelerate Turkish democracy's death march he had already put in motion for some time. Sadly, things have ...
The Definitive Battle for the Soul of Turkey & Its Future Is Happening Right Now & It Is This Coup
...Is Happening Right Now & It Is This Coup This military coup is the defining moment for post-Cold War Turkey. Whatever happens here, the trajectory of Turkey for decades to come will be set: an emerging dictatorship under the increasingly ...
Brexit Heralds End of Positive Era & Possible Lurch Towards Awful One for Europe & World
Least among the problems posed by the UK's Brexit vote to leave the EU are the actual effects that will be felt in the UK; there is so much more at stake in the wider world, not least the general ...
Orlando Terror Sad Reminder of Rise of Hate & Violence in World & West
Violence and hate feed each other, as the violence in the Middle East shows; the West must be careful not to play into the cycle of violence and hate feeding each other, and whether or not we do is up ...
Trump Foreign Policy Speech Latest Example of GOP Bankruptcy in Foreign Policy Ideas, Competence
A detailed examination of Trump's foreign policy speech from a few weeks ago reveals how little substantive thought or ideas the candidate, the Republican Party, and it voters have when it comes to foreign policy. Contradictory and confusing, Trump showed ...