Under olika skeden av förhandlingarna och det politiska taktikspelet inför vinterkriget gjorde Stalins Ryssland en rad territoriella krav gentemot Finland. Han hänvisade till behovet att kunna försvara Sankt Petersburg mot eventuella angrepp från Tyskland via Finland. De här kraven ville Finland inte veta av eftersom man inte hade avsikt att angripa Sankt Petersburg eller låta någon annan via Finland göra det. Så Paasikivis och Tanners förhandlingar med Stalin och Molotov blev resultatlösa. Vinterkriget bröt ut. Läs artikel
Månad: januari 2022
Illegal: The Recourse to Force to Recover Occupied Territory and the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, academic.oup.com
[…] Indeed, prior to the 2020 conflict, the Nagorno-Karabakh region was widely regarded as belonging de jure to Azerbaijan, but as being unlawfully occupied – for more than 25 years – by Armenia.2 The self-proclaimed ‘Republic of Artsakh’ was seen as nothing but a puppet regime under the control of Armenia.3 Against this background, the following question arises: When part of one state’s territory is occupied by another state for a prolonged duration, can the former state have lawful recourse to military force to recover its land? Clearly, the relevance of this question extends far beyond the Caucasus (one need only consider the cases of the Golan Heights or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus). Accordingly, rather than seeking to identify who was the ‘aggressor’ in the 2020 confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan – both protagonists accused each other of having triggered the hostilities – this essay tackles the above question in a more general fashion. Upon weighing the arguments, we believe a negative answer is in order. Läs artikel
When You are Done in the USA, Jonas, You are Welcome to the North, highnorthnews.com
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has visited the White House. Here, he met with an American president who, according to Norwegian daily VG, wanted to hear about Norway’s experience with having Russia as its neighbor. Next time Støre goes traveling, he should go to Finnmark.
Here, too, there is wondering about how our relationship with Russia should be understood.
Europe has not faced a larger military crisis since the 1960s, when American and Soviet canons pointed at each other on the border between East and West Berlin. When the Berlin Wall came down later, in 1989, we called off the Cold War and started serious peace cooperation between the East and the West. Läs artikel
Why Smedley Butler left the imperialist front despising ‘Gangsters of Capitalism’, responsiblestatecraft.org
Smedley Butler was one of the most decorated Marines in U.S. history, and by the end of his life he was also one of the most outspoken critics of the U.S. imperialism that he had spent most of his life enforcing. That contradiction between Butler the antiwar critic and Butler the builder of empire is at the heart of an important new book by Jonathan Katz, Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America’s Empire. Katz’s book is an essential reminder of what the U.S. did during those decades and of the lasting effects that those interventions had on the countries where Butler went.
Butler took part in America’s so-called “small wars” in Asia, the Caribbean, and Central America in the early twentieth century. Like those wars, his military career has mostly been forgotten by the American public. That career was defined by aggressive military interventions on behalf of corporate interests, and by the end he was disgusted by it. Läs artikel
Inte på vår bakgård
Harvardprofessorn Serhii Plokhy har skrivit en intressant bok om Kubakrisen 1961–62: Nuclear Folly. A History of the Cuban Missile Crises (W. W. Norton & Company, 2021). Citaten nedan är från boken i min översättning, om inget annat anges.
Först 1992 fick USA:s tidigare försvarsminister Robert McNamara (1961–1968) klart för sig att Sovjetunionen hade haft taktiska kärnvapen klara att avfyras och 43.000 soldater på Kuba 1962. President Kennedy hade räknat med maximalt 10.000 soldater och inga stridsberedda kärnvapen, när man planerade att invadera Kuba sommaren detta år. Det var fråga om kortdistansmissiler som inte kunde nå Florida, men väl ha använts mot en amerikansk invasionsstyrka med förödande konsekvenser. Även stridsvagnar hade fraktats till ön. Kubas militära kapacitet var ”i huvudsak defensiv”, enligt en uppgift från CIA.
Men varför ville Kennedy och hans generaler invadera Kuba?
Amerikanska trupper hade landat på Kubas stränder i juni 1898. Den amerikanska regeringen gick in i konflikten delvis som ett svar på allmänhetens krav på att stoppa spanska grymheter mot kubanerna, ofta överdrivna i amerikanska medier. Men bakom ingripandet låg också en tillämpning av Monroedoktrinen.
Ryssland hotar bryta relationerna med USA om det nya amerikanska sanktionspaketet blir verklighet, svenska.yle.fi
Moskva skärpte retoriken mot väst på fredagen och hotade med att bryta relationerna med USA om USA inför nya sanktioner.
Utrikesminister Sergej Lavrov sa att de nya sanktioner som USA förbereder mot Ryssland skulle innebära att relationerna mellan USA och Ryssland bryts. Lavrov hänvisade speciellt till hotet om att utesluta Ryssland från det internationella betalningsförmedlingssystemet Swift.
Både USA, EU och Nato har hotat med sällsynt hårda sanktioner ifall Ryssland invaderar Ukraina. Ryssland har upprepade gånger förnekat att landet planerar en invasion.
– Det här sanktionspaketet inklusive avstängning från de västkontrollerade finansiella ekonomiska systemen skulle innebära att relationerna bryts, sa Lavrov.
Utrikesministern försäkrade samtidigt att Ryssland inte viker från sina krav på säkerhetsgarantier.
– Det finns inget utrymme för kompromisser, sa Lavrov till ryska radiostationer på fredagen. Läs artikel
Därför är förstärkningen på Gotland ingen beredskapshöjning, forsvarsmakten.se
Truppförflyttningarna och patrulleringen på Gotland var i varje fall ingen beredskapshöjning. Det var inte ens någon förändring av verksamheten. Om något var det en anpassning av den grundberedskap Försvarsmakten alltid har i fredstid.
Försvarsmaktens beredskapssystem utgår från tre situationer som samhället kan befinna sig i: normalläge, säkerhetspolitisk kris och väpnat angrepp.
I de två förstnämnda har Försvarsmakten grundberedskap. Höjd beredskap, vid risk för eller vid väpnat angrepp, kräver ett regeringsbeslut. Läs pressmeddelande
Julian Assange can ask Supreme Court to consider extradition case, bbc.com
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has won the right to ask the Supreme Court to block his extradition to the US.
The High Court ruled on Monday he had an arguable point of law that Supreme Court justices may want to consider. The ruling means Mr Assange can petition the UK’s highest court for a hearing, stalling any extradition from the UK for now.
He is wanted in the US over the publication of thousands of classified documents in 2010 and 2011. Lord Burnett, the Lord Chief Justice, said Mr Assange’s case had raised a legal question over the circumstances in which judges received and considered assurances from the US about how he would be treated in prison. Läs artikel
Blinken’s response to Russia NATO demand is frankly disturbing, responsiblestatecraft.org
Yesterday the U.S. State Department submitted written responses to Russian negotiating positions in the ongoing U.S.-Russia negotiations over the Ukraine crisis. The exact text and details of the responses are confidential. However, Secretary of State Blinken’s statement regarding the content of the U.S. response is disturbing. At a press briefing, Blinken reaffirmed the U.S. refusal to engage with the core Russian position that the Ukraine should not be permitted to enter NATO, adding that in the written response “we make clear that there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend — including Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances.”
This is problematic from several perspectives. At the most basic level, it indicates that the U.S. is refusing to seek compromise regarding what Russia believes to be a core national security interest, namely that the U.S. should not make an alliance commitment to the military defense of Ukraine. Russia views Ukraine as a strategically critical nation due to its location directly on the Russian border and deep historical and cultural ties to Eastern Ukraine. Läs artikel
Explainer: What are NATO’s next steps if Russia invades Ukraine? reuters.com
[…] For the moment, the 30-member North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is working with Ukraine to modernise its armed forces. Canada operates a training programme in Ukraine, while Denmark is also stepping up efforts to bring Ukraine’s military up to NATO standards. The alliance has also said it will help Ukraine defend against cyber attacks and is providing secure communications equipment for military command. […]
The United States, Britain and the Baltic states are sending weapons to Ukraine, including anti-tank missiles, small arms and boats. Turkey has sold drones to Ukraine that the Ukrainian military has used in eastern Ukraine against Russian-backed separatists.
However, Germany is against sending arms to Ukraine. Berlin has instead promised a complete field hospital and the necessary training for Ukrainian troops to operate it, worth about $6 million. […]
The U.S. Department of Defense has put about 8,500 American troops on heightened alert. Denmark is sending a frigate to the Baltic Sea and four F-16 warplanes to Lithuania. Spain has sent a minesweeper and a frigate to join NATO naval forces in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
Madrid is also considering sending fighter jets to Bulgaria, while the Netherlands has also offered two F-35 warplanes to Bulgaria from April. France may send troops to Romania under NATO command. Läs artikel
Statement by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on the UN Security Council, usun.usmission.gov
Today, after weeks of close consultation with Ukraine and partners on the Security Council, the United States called an open meeting of the Security Council to discuss a matter of crucial importance to international peace and security: Russia’s threatening behavior against Ukraine and the build-up of Russian troops on Ukraine’s borders and in Belarus.
More than 100,000 Russian troops are deployed on the Ukrainian border and Russia is engaging in other destabilizing acts aimed at Ukraine, posing a clear threat to international peace and security and the UN Charter. As we continue our relentless pursuit of diplomacy to de-escalate tensions in the face of this serious threat to European and global peace and security, the UN Security Council is a crucial venue for diplomacy.
The members of the Security Council must squarely examine the facts and consider what is at stake for Ukraine, for Russia, for Europe, and for the core obligations and principles of the international order should Russia further invade Ukraine.
This is not a moment to wait and see. The Council’s full attention is needed now, and we look forward to direct and purposeful discussion on Monday. Läs uttalandet
Joint communiqué to the statement of the Malian authorities concerning the Danish contribution to the Task Force Takuba, diplomatie.gouv.fr
We, the international partners committed to supporting Mali and its people in their efforts to achieve sustainable peace and stability and combat terrorism, deeply regret the statement by the Malian transitional authorities, dated January 24, alleging that the deployment of the Danish contingent in the Task Force Takuba has been made without a proper legal basis and consent from the Malian government, and therefore demanding its withdrawal from the Malian soil. […]
We recall that the Malian authorities sent a formal invitation letter to the government of Denmark on 27 November 2019. The notification of acceptance was then transmitted by the Danish embassy in Bamako on 29 June 2021, and signed on the very same day by the Protocol of the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The presence of Danish soldiers on Malian soil is therefore legal, has been the subject of an invitation from the authorities of the Republic of Mali and has respected the legal procedure agreed by the legal services of the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Ministry of Defence.
Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, United Kingdom Läs uttalandet