International relations and diplomacy
- Denis Mancevic
- Editorials
- International relations and diplomacy
To paraphrase the American essayist H. L. Mencken, “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” Every populist is acutely aware of this, carefully and gradually erasing the final, yet crucial, part of the equation from public consciousness. What remains are only fast, simple, and entirely wrong solutions that…
In just over a week, we will enter the fifth year of the war in Ukraine. Mentally, for the average Homo sovieticus, this war has already crossed the symbolic threshold separating a so-called “special military operation” (SMO) from a “real war”—one comparable to World War II, which in Russian textbooks began in 1941 and ended…
“Russia is obliged to do something horrible to restore her credibility. It is very sad that we have to use such kind of arguments. But we have not choice. Only brutality, force, mass destruction and cruelty do matter in Trumplike world. Either you hit first or you are dead,” reads a tweet posted earlier this…
With these words, Francis Fukuyama described what the Donald Trump administration is doing to Ukraine at an international conference in Vienna in early December. Not only is it increasingly openly pushing Ukraine into the Kremlin’s arms—it is doing so aggressively, with rhetoric drafted almost at Red Square. When we add to this the open disdain…
These days, global discussions are revolving almost entirely around tomorrow’s Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska. There are countless questions about whether the meeting can bring at least a ceasefire—if not a more lasting peace settlement—or, on the contrary, further divide the U.S. and the EU. Speculation is high, and so are the stakes. I commented on…
New US National Security Strategy: The Final Wake-Up Call for Europe (comment for the STA – Slovene Press Agency)
Earlier this week (December 8), I commented on the release of the new US National Security Strategy for the Slovenian Press Agency (STA). As this document will have long-term consequences for Europe and the future of transatlantic relations, I am providing an expanded version of that assessment here—offering more context and sharper emphasis than the…