An interview with Ambassador John Bolton leads three pieces on the world’s hot spots. (Links to full columns embedded in each headline.)
Bolton: Putin is unlikely to nuke anybody (May 12): No, Russia isn’t likely to use nuclear weapons during its hideous war against Ukraine, and no, China is not likely to leave Taiwan in ruins.
Those were the two key assessments from former national security adviser John Bolton during a Friday interview in his Washington, D.C., office. Bolton, the famously tough-talking foreign policy maven, is often falsely portrayed as an advocate of warfare rather than an advocate of deterrence. The difference is large, and it is key to understanding his analyses….
It’s time for a humanitarian sea corridor for Ukraine (May 18): Humanitarian assistance for Ukraine should involve not just sending aid to the beleaguered nation but also guaranteeing food exports from there to the rest of the outside world.
That counterintuitive but insightful proposal comes from John Gruetzner, a decadeslong international businessman and a fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute. In a column that ran in slightly different versions in multiple outlets, Gruetzner (and sometime co-author Ted Bilyea) warns that “nearly 25 million tons of grain are currently stuck in Ukraine and unable to leave the country.” The inability to export its grain is a massive blow to Ukraine’s own economy and future “agricultural capacity,” of course, and it also threatens to cause a significant famine in places all around the globe.,,,
Yes, NATO should welcome Finland and Sweden (May 16):
As Finland and Sweden move to apply to join NATO, the organization should prepare to grant the requests in an expedited process.
The sooner those two nations are in NATO, the safer everybody will be.
The decisions by those Scandinavian nations to leave “non-aligned” status is a big deal, as Sweden has maintained neutrality for two centuries and Finland fought only defensively during World War II and has retained what amounts to a separate peace with Moscow ever since….
