Josef Stalin

Diplomatic Icebreakers

Peace with Russia, as in Soviet times, has always been unpalatable but necessary.

Dmitri Volkogonov: Historian of Soviet Lies

Dmitri Volkogonov’s histories contributed significantly to the delegitimization of the Soviet regime in the eyes of ordinary Russians by exposing the naked terror which underpinned the USSR.

Getting Russia Right

Richard John Neuhaus was always fond of reminding those drawn to the seductions of modern secular political faiths that they…

The Danger of Revolutionary Idealism: the Violence of Collectivism

The Rise of Violent, Revolutionary Ideology in the 20th Century and its Christian Realist Tonic.

Passing the Baton
Passing the Baton

As the generation that grew up in and saw the collapse of the USSR, Generation X is uniquely positioned to lead the US as it drifts into the second Cold War.

The US Should Oppose the Forced Repatriation of Russian POWs in Ukraine
The US Should Oppose the Forced Repatriation of Russian POWs in Ukraine

Should Washington become a party to a peace settlement for the Russia-Ukraine War, it should be prepared to defend Ukraine against inevitable Kremlin pressure to forcibly repatriate Russian prisoners of war.

A Colonel, a Kid, and a Christmas Story - NORAD - Harry Shoup
A Colonel, a Kid, and a Christmas Story

Shoup’s actions during Christmastime 1955 offer an un-planned, un-staged snapshot of a political system and world view strikingly different from that of Lenin, Stalin, and Xi—a system founded on the freedom to believe in God or Santa or not, to believe in the meaning of Christmas or not, to believe in Immanuel or not.

Christmas 80 Years Ago & Today

The struggle for that free and decent world never ends this side of the parousia.

Democracies & Dirty Hands

But it’s important for the souls of democracies that, even as they must make nasty accommodations in pursuit of a wider good, that they fully admit to themselves this reality, without self-delusion.