VIDEO: FDD's online harassment against critics of Trump’s State Department | Responsible Statecraft

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Analysis | Reporting | Middle East

Earlier this month, Responsible Statecraft reported — based on recently obtained documents via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit — that the hawkish DC think tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies was at the center of an online harassment campaign funded by the State Department that targeted Americans, including journalists, and human rights advocates, because of their opposition to Donald Trump's Middle East policy. Quincy Institute Multimedia Producer Khody Akhavi breaks the story down:

Analysis | Reporting | Middle East

ukraine war

Diplomacy Watch: A peace summit without Russia

Diplomacy Watch: Moscow bails on limited ceasefire talks

Diplomacy Watch: Are Moscow and Kyiv on collision course to talk?

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that he would be open to peace negotiations with Ukraine.

“Are we ready to negotiate with them? We never refused, but not on the basis of some ephemeral demands, rather on the basis of the documents which were agreed on and actually initialed in Istanbul,” said Putin during remarks at an economic forum with leaders from Malaysia and China.

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urkaine war

An armed soldier is standing behind a pile of used shells at the positions of the Motorised Rifle Battalion of the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on August 15, 2024(Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto) VIA REUTERS

When will the war in Ukraine end?

Some Western supporters of Ukraine have been presenting the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian province of Kursk as a great victory that will significantly change the course and outcome of the war. They are deceiving themselves. While legally and morally justified, the attack has failed in all its main objectives, and may indeed turn out to have done serious damage to Ukraine’s position on the battlefield. One U.S. analyst has compared it to the Confederate invasion of the North that led to the battle of Gettysburg — a brilliant tactical stroke that however ended in losses that crippled the Army of Northern Virginia.

The Ukrainian attack has not captured any significant Russian population center or transport hub. It has embarrassed Putin, but there is no evidence that it has significantly shaken his hold on power in Russia. It may have done something to raise the spirits of the Ukrainian population in general; but, as Western reports from eastern Ukraine make clear, it has done nothing to raise the morale of Ukrainian troops there.

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artificial intelligence

metamorworks via shutterstock.com

Will AI make soldiers obsolete?

Military Industrial Complex

With few exceptions, most soldiers do not wish for death on the battlefield.

While some warrior cultures, like the Norse, revered dying in battle as an honourable end, and some jihadists today believe in heavenly rewards for martyrs, these are outliers. The reality is that the prospect of being shot or blown to pieces is terrifying, making recruitment a persistent challenge.

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