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Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

The Hill

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How wishful thinking from the West enabled Russian authoritarianism

The intellectual roots of the West’s mistakes predate the Soviet Union’s collapse.

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The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Western powers shot down Iranian missiles. Why not Russian missiles?

Ukrainians are asking an indelicate question.

18.04.2024 4

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

J.D. Vance is dead wrong about Ukraine aid

The junior senator from Ohio would be well advised to do some homework before expressing his opinions on a topic he obviously doesn’t fully...

16.04.2024 5

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

America's political leaders are shrugging at Putin’s evil

American policymakers are placing their own personal ambitions above the physical survival of 40 million people and the likelihood that Putin will...

12.04.2024 8

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Millions get rare look at solar eclipse 2024: Live updates

Millions will get a rare look at the total solar eclipse on Monday as parts of North America will go dark for the first time in seven years. The rare...

08.04.2024 10

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

The West is failing to rise to the challenge of Russia’s threat

NATO countries talk about the Russian threat, but their dilly-dallying, their insufficient support of Ukraine and their unwillingness to impose truly...

08.04.2024 30

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

The Russian Orthodox Church declares ‘holy war’ on Ukraine

Russian Orthodoxy has become a central component of the Kremlin’s propaganda.

02.04.2024 3

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Is the problem Putin’s Russia or Mother Russia?

There is no easy answer to the problem of Russian imperialism.

28.03.2024 6

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Putin lost the election

Putin would have been far better off retiring to his bunkers and leaving the Russian mess to someone else.

22.03.2024 30

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Why time is not on Russia’s side

Putin has little other than coercion to rely on to elicit societal compliance.

18.03.2024 4

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Is Putin’s Russia a Nazi state?

Putin’s Russia is somewhere between full-fledged fascist and full-fledged Nazi, probably closer to the latter than to the former.

10.03.2024 10

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Both heroes and mediocrities will decide the fate of Ukraine

Russia’s war against Ukraine provides several instructive examples of mediocrities acting according to script — but also of how someone can break...

02.03.2024 10

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Why Ukrainians are still so optimistic

Someone forgot to tell the Ukrainians that they can’t win the war against Russia.

27.02.2024 4

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Trump and Putin, wannabe macho men

Is Donald Trump man enough to accept a diminutive ex-comedian’s invitation to visit the frontlines in Ukraine?

22.02.2024 2

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Ukrainians will never forget

Ironically, in stoking Ukrainian hatred of Russia, Putin has effectively promoted Ukrainian national identity and statehood as well as guaranteed that...

17.02.2024 10

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Russia just disqualified Putin’s only serious electoral opponent

Basing his platform on opposition to the war against Ukraine, Nadezhdin was the only real alternative to Putin.

09.02.2024 5

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Could Russia’s sham election provoke popular unrest?

Rigging elections too much can be risky.

05.02.2024 4

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Russia casts its eye on … Alaska?

Delusions of grandeur drive Russian policy, both at home and abroad.

29.01.2024 6

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Three GOP leaders have produced a smart plan for Ukraine. Will MAGA listen?

The “Proposed Plan for Victory in Ukraine” may be one of the most important documents to come out of Washington in the last two years.

21.01.2024 7

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Russia and North Korea are now kissing cousins

Opening its doors to Russia is a clear indication of Pyongyang’s belief that it’s dealing with a kindred state.

16.01.2024 3

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Correcting a mistranslation of Putin on the West as Russia’s ‘enemy’

It’s not at all clear from a correct reading of his comments that Putin thinks of the West as an enemy with whom he should negotiate Ukraine’s...

08.01.2024 4

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

After a very tough year, Ukrainians remain optimistic

Ukrainians remain bullish about their country’s future. To be sure, not quite as bullish as a year ago, but bullish nonetheless.

31.12.2023 5

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Reasons for hope in Ukraine

Little has changed on the frontline since the summer, when optimism reigned. But now the talk is all of stalemate, deadlock and stalled offensives.

26.12.2023 2

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Newsflash: Russia doesn’t want peace

The war and genocide Putin unleashed won’t stop in Ukraine.

18.12.2023 10

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Will America fail the Peter Singer test in Ukraine?

There’s no way to avoid the sad conclusion that MAGA Republicans are effectively supporting Ukraine’s destruction for the sake of ridding...

09.12.2023 5

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

How responsible is the average Russian for Putin’s war?

When three-quarters or more of a population endorse war and genocide, we are in a realm that goes beyond public opinion surveys and involves culture.

04.12.2023 3

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Criminal vs. criminal in Russia’s presidential election

The irony of two war criminals duking it out will be both delicious and obvious, at least to people with a sense of humor.

27.11.2023 20

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Remembering Ukraine’s twentieth-century tragedies

According to a 2008 study, Ukraine suffered close to 15 million “excess deaths” between 1914 and 1948.

20.11.2023 2

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Why do Russian soldiers keep marching into slaughter?

Russia continues to send poorly trained and poorly armed recruits in waves, opening them up to staggering losses.

10.11.2023 2

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Reports of Putin’s death might not be greatly exaggerated

Is Vladimir Putin dead? According to a mysterious Russian Telegram channel and a prominent Russian political analyst, the answer is yes.

31.10.2023 100

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Is Russia a civilization? Putin has some fancy, empty rhetoric on the topic.

Putin, clearly, has no idea what he is talking about when he talks about civilization.

19.10.2023 2

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

When will Putin finally go?

A usually astute Russian democratic analyst named Valery Solovey predicts that Putin is deathly ill and won’t make it past the fall of this year.

10.10.2023 4

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

When foreign policy ‘realists’ are naive

When realist theorists of foreign policy start talking about morality, it may be worth heading for the hills — or scratching your head and paying...

02.10.2023 1

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Austria’s lessons for Ukraine about neutrality and Russia

Russian spies would overrun the country, fifth columns would be organized, Ukrainian institutions would be infiltrated, and Russian capital would flow...

24.09.2023 3

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Putting Ukraine’s corruption problem in context

Ukraine is roughly in the same neighborhood as Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary — all of which have long been members of the EU.

18.09.2023 2

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

Putin’s six mistakes

Contrary to the image that he propagates at home and abroad, the supposedly sage dictator is a serial bumbler who committed a plethora of pushing...

11.09.2023 2

The Hill

Alexander J. Motyl, Opinion Contributor

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