In The News

Politics Overshadow NATO Anniversary: Spiegel

Matthias Gebauer, Konstantin von Hammerstein, Peter Müller and Christoph Schult December 2, 2019
Preparing to celebrate its 70th anniversary, NATO is under attack by some members. French President Emmanuel describes “brain death” and US President Donald Trump chastises allies who do not contribute 2 percent of GDP to defense. Jens Stoltenberg, general secretary of NATO, admits that the allies disagree on some issues, but agree in “substance.” Analysis from Spiegel Online describes two NATOs...

Quid Pro Quo on Ukraine Aid: Washington Post

Aaron C. Davis November 20, 2019
President Trump is described as “the boss,” who issued orders and demands, at times vague and other times specific, with little interest in details or how his cowed staff carried out the orders. That was according to congressional testimony by US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland for the presidential impeachment inquiry. Official US policy supports Ukraine in its war with Russia....

Power Void in Bolivia: Associated Press

November 11, 2019
After weeks of protests, the Bolivia’s military chief convinced President Evo Morales to resign Morales had been president since 2006, and as many as 20 other officials resigned as well. “Crowds of jubilant foes of the socialist leader celebrated in the streets with honking horns and fireworks after Morales's announcement Sunday, treating as a triumph of democracy the ouster of a man who...

Vindman Deposition

November 11, 2019
Nations must carefully assess the motivations behind any request from foreign leaders as well as the benefits for their country and the common good. Supporting or targeting a citizen of another country for questionable purposes, can jeopardize bipartisan support. In congressional testimony, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman detailed how he consistently issued warnings – advising the...

Hill Deposition

November 9, 2019
Fiona Hill oversaw interactions pertaining to Europe and NATO as well as Russia, Turkey and Ukrainewas with the National Security Council as. a senior director with the National Security Counci since early 2017. During that time, she observed sloppy security practices, manipulations, internal score setting and targeted leaks to undermine colleagues along with lack of transparency in...

Twitter Workers Charged for Spying: Washington Post

Ellen Nakashima and Greg Bensinger November 8, 2019
The US Department of Justice has charged two former Twitter employees, sending out a warning that any activities on tech platforms – social media, email, search engines – can be accessed by spies. The two men Saudi nationals tracked thousands of prominent critics of Saudi Arabia, marking the first formal accusations of the country spying in the United States. Foreign governments with nefarious...

Taylor Deposition

November 8, 2019
William Taylor reported to work at the US embassy in Ukraine on June 17, appointed chargé d'affaires by the Secretary of State and the president. He soon realized that the president’s private attorney Rudy Giuliani was promoting shadow US policies and priorities counter to US security interests. Taylor raised alarm, sending a cable to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after learning that the...