San Francisco Chronicle (February 23)
“For American tech companies seeking talent, Ukraine’s highly educated population, with heavy emphasis on sought-after STEM specialties, is appealing, as is the fact that salaries there are about one-third to one-quarter of those for comparable jobs in the Bay Area.” Now these tech companies (including Google, Snap, Oracle, Grammarly, Ring, and JustAnswer) are urgently “revising contingency plans to protect their workers and businesses.”
Tags: Bay Area, Contingency plans, Educated, Google, JustAnswer, Oracle, Protect, Salaries, Snap, STEM, Talent, Tech companies, Ukraine
The Economist (February 19)
“With the candour that has wrong-footed Mr Putin, many Western security officials accused him of lying, redoubling their warnings of a looming Russian invasion. Even if the troops pull back, this crisis is not yet over. And, whatever happens, war or no war, Mr Putin has damaged his country by engineering it.”
Tags: Crisis, Looming, Lying, Putin, Russian invasion, Security officials, Troops, Ukraine, War, Warnings, Wrong-footed
The Guardian (February 28)
“Moscow is bracing for economic panic when markets open on Monday morning, with the value of the rouble expected to plummet at least 25% after the US and European Union announced unprecedented sanctions over the weekend.” The resulting economic turbulence “will mark a key moment when the gravity of the crisis in Ukraine hits home for many ordinary Russians.”
Tags: Bracing, Crisis, Economic panic, EU, Gravity, Markets, Moscow, Ordinary Russians, Plummet, Rouble, Sanctions, Turbulence, U.S., Ukraine, Unprecedented
The Guardian (January 23)
Vladimir Putin “fits the rogue male profile to a T – unscrupulous, vicious, cunning, and ever ready to trample on other people and countries.” That, not strategy, is the key to understanding his desire to invade Ukraine. “The world has been here before, many times. One screwed-up little man must not be allowed to start a war no one wants.”
Tags: Cunning, Invade, Putin, Rogue male, Trample. Strategy, Ukraine, Understanding, Unscrupulous, Vicious, War
Wall Street Journal (December 6)
“Three potential crises are proceeding in tandem: a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, continuing Chinese pressure on Taiwan and the potential collapse of Iran nuclear talks.” Individually, any “of these standoffs has the potential to shake the world order and produce wider conflict. Taken together, they signal that the U.S. and its allies are at a dangerous moment.” Findings a way to successfully “show firmness on each front without provoking a crisis” will provechallenging.
Tags: Allies, China, Collapse, Conflict, Crises, Dangerous, Iran, Nuclear talks, Russian invasion, Standoffs, Taiwan, U.S., Ukraine
Washington Post (November 20)
“Even Republicans’ preferred witnesses are implicating Trump.” At Tuesday’s hearings by the House Intelligence Committee, “it was striking that the stories” told by the witnesses selected by the President’s party, “simply added to the evidence that President Trump abused his office and twisted long-standing U.S. policy in Ukraine to serve his personal political interests.”
Tags: Abuse, Evidence, Hearings, House Intelligence Committee, Implicating, Republicans, Trump, U.S., Ukraine, Witnesses
Washington Post (September 27)
“In the case of Ukraine, the president is accused of using the awesome power of the United States…to serve his personal political gain. Sadly, this is part of a pattern of violations of democratic norms.” While “Trump is a particularly egregious example” he fits a “global trend” of misbehavior that extends to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.
Tags: Democratic, Duterte, Egregious, Erdogan, Hungary, India, Johnson, Misbehavior, Modi, Norms, Orbán, Philippines, PM, Political gain, Power, Trump, Turkey, U.S., UK, Ukraine, Violations
LA Times (September 23)
“Impeachments are among the fastest ways to traumatize a divided nation. That’s why this page has been reluctant to endorse calls for the House of Representatives to launch a formal impeachment investigation into President Trump. But this week the president crossed a new line.” If the President “won’t come clean about Ukraine, an impeachment inquiry is the only option.”
Tags: Divided nation, Endorse, House of Representatives, Impeachments, Reluctant, Traumatize, Trump, Ukraine
Time (January 1)
“Russia’s President Vladimir Putin needs a time machine to take him back to March 2014, so he can stop at Crimea. Look at his poll numbers: the bump topped out when Putin added Crimea to the trophy case. The continuing fight in Ukraine’s eastern provinces has brought him nothing of value. He’ll be re-elected in March, but given the state of Russia’s economy, it won’t be long before he’s pining for a return to simpler times.”
US News & World Report (September 12)
Putin’s proposal to put U.N. Peacekeepers in Ukraine “seems to be a win-win for Moscow – even if it fails.” Whether it will be a “path to peace” remains to be seen and skeptics believe the Russian president is again scheming at something.
