Recent postings and webcasts from Chatham House and the Atlantic Council demonstrate a panic over present strategic developments.
Chatham House issued a warning following the EU summit and the failure to provide more funds for Ukraine. “European unity remains brittle” wrote Natalie Sabanadze and Kataryna Wolczuk yesterday in “Orban’s Ukraine Gamble Is a Blow to the EU’s Geopolitical Ambitions.” It is “vulnerable to internal and external challenges.” “The EU can no longer ignore the problem of rogue member states and must deal with this challenge as a matter of both urgency and principle – coffee breaks will not suffice,” referring to the effort to circle around Orban at last week’s summit. A spokesman from Chatham House, asked what are the other “rogue member states,” said there are several problem states emerging, but stopped after mentioning Hungary’s neighbor, Slovakia, which just elected Robert Fico as Prime Minister.
Chatham House is placing a spotlight on Belarus, with several recent webcasts. They cite a poll showing that President Lukashenko is strongly supported by those over 55 years old, but not by those under 35.
The Atlantic Council posted an article, “Support Ukraine Today or Fight Russia Tomorrow.” It states that Putin sees Ukraine as a war “to destroy the existing world order,” and recent statements from him show his commitment to an “ideological showdown with the Western World.” He has placed the Russian economy on a “war footing,” preparing Russia “for a long war.” It concludes by attacking the idea of ending the war through a diplomatic settlement, arguing that Putin cannot be “bought off by territorial concessions at Ukraine’s expense.”
Atlantic Council CEO Frederick Kempe wrote a short piece on Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington, writing that in the Ukraine war, the “front line is now in Washington, D.C.”
