It’s now almost a weekly occurrence. Donald Trump is once again spreading Russian propaganda or threatening to blow up NATO. Elon Musk suggested that if the European Union were to regulate social media, the United States would withdraw from NATO. Even outspoken European Atlanticists (NATO supporters), like the prospective German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, have effectively already bid farewell to the United States by stating that America is no longer an ally.
Merz’s thinking was confirmed a few days later when Trump claimed that the European Union was established to ruin America. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham piled on: Europeans would be the last to defend freedom. For the Republicans and Trump, Europe is no longer an ally but an adversary.
We’ve ignored so many wake-up calls that it’s become a pattern. Hopefully, this American storm will finally rip the earplugs out of European ears. Europeans are still in the denial phase, but America will drop Europe when it suits them strategically. Stop trying to salvage what’s left—a pan-European alliance between the EU, Turkey, the UK, and Ukraine is the only solution. I’ve already given up on America as an ally.
Fact or Fiction: How an Alleged Promise to Gorbachev About NATO Expansion Fuels Myths and Misconceptions
Putin is known for taking liberties with history. You have probably heard him say that NATO should not have expanded. According to Russia, U.S Secretary of State James Baker allegedly promised Gorbachev in 1990 that this would not happen. This promise was supposedly made when the Soviet Union agreed to the reunification of Germany in 1990. Yet, by 2024, several countries east of Germany had become NATO members. Russian propagandists use this to claim that the West betrayed Russia. But is that really true? Did NATO actually make such a promise, or is this Russian fake history? And what was the context in which Baker is said to have made these statements? In this article, we delve into the historical background of this ‘promise.’
10 years after MH17, there are still people who say this is not their war, as if it’s a choice.
Ten years ago, I was sitting with my parents and brother on a terrace in Laos. We were enjoying the Laotian tranquility, where motorbikes stopped to wake sleeping dogs before continuing on their way. The contrast with the Netherlands was striking: in the Netherlands, there would have been impatient honking. We had just finished a Laotian curry, were sipping coffee, and enjoying the music of Michael Jackson and Joy Division after a long day of walking. Everything seemed perfect for a peaceful tropical evening in Laos until one of us went to retrieve the phones. All four phones were so hot you could fry an egg on them. At first, we thought it was due to the heat, but no, they were red-hot from over thirty missed calls. A plane had been shot down over Ukraine.
Without the Holodomor, You Will Not Understand the War and Ukrainians in their struggle against Russian imperialism
When it comes to Ukrainian history, it is noticeable that many people in Western Europe are familiar with Ukrainian Nazis from World War II, like Bandera. However, the Holodomor (literally, the plague of hunger) is not as widely known. Without understanding the Holodomor, one simply cannot comprehend Ukraine’s actions in the current war with Russia, nor why Ukrainian opportunists collaborated with Nazi Germany from 1941. Last Saturday, Ukraine commemorated the Holodomor, a deliberate famine orchestrated by Stalin 90 years ago that claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainians. Professor Timothy Snyder, an expert on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, asserts that this famine in Ukraine in the 1930s was intentionally created by the Stalinist Soviet regime.
Welkom, ik ben Hidde Bouwmeester, historicus, internationale betrekkingen, publicist en spreker. Mijn analyses zijn doorgaans longreads. Tegenwoordig lijkt alles kort en snel te moeten. En toch is het belangrijk om context te bieden in deze onrustige (geopolitieke) tijd. Dankzij de steun van mijn lezers kan ik 2 keer per week zulke longreads schrijven en de waan van de dag wat negeren. Dankzij de vaste bijdrages kan ik soms ook onderwerpen behandelen die anders nauwelijks aan bod komen. U kunt zich ook aanmelden voor mijn Substack, dan krijgt u een mailtje als er een nieuwe analyse online staat.
Steun Hidde
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