Imperialism
Russia
Ukraine
Fig. 1. “Destroyed Russian military vehicles located on the main street Khreshchatyk are seen as part of the celebration of the Independence Day of Ukraine in Kyiv, August 24.” Photograph by Gleb Garanich for Reuters, August 24, 2022,[1] fair use.
It seems just a bit conspiratorial:
[T]he strategy that matters most for the Kremlin is not the military strategy, but rather the spread of disinformation that causes the West to back away and allow Russia to win. That disinformation operation echoes the Russian practice of getting a population to believe in a false reality so that voters will cast their ballots for the party of oligarchs. In this case, in addition to seeding the idea that Ukraine cannot win and that the Russian invasion was justified, the Kremlin is exploiting divisions already roiling U.S. politics.[2]
I had understood the link between the illiberal movements in the U.S. and elsewhere and Russia to be somewhat opportunistic. Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric affirms values dear to the right and the right responds accordingly. Heather Cox Richardson suggests that Putin’s courtship of the right has been an intentional strategy to support Russian imperialism.[3] This, of course, fits with a somewhat discredited narrative blaming Hillary Clinton’s defeat in 2016 on Russian disinformation efforts, but that that narrative has been partly discredited—yes, there was an effort, but no, it wasn’t “the cause” of her defeat—hardly means the effort has been abandoned or that Russians have not improved their tactics since.
I haven’t known what to make of Russian and Chinese hacking efforts. A lot of it, which we hear less about, is directed at economic targets. They want our technology. Some has been directed at government targets. They want our secrets. Some of it, however, has clearly been an effort, much like that of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, to defend their imperialism in the court of public opinion. But to be honest, that this might be aimed more foundationally at amplifying and enhancing right-wing voices hadn’t occurred to me. Cox assembles a substantive case that this is so.[4]
Heather Cox Richardson, “March 29, 2024,” Letters from an American, March 30, 2024, https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-29-2024
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 2. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[5] fair use.
There’s a Republican congressman who wants all the wars over quickly.[6] Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence sharing with Israel is beginning to draw scrutiny:[7]
At the start of the war, the U.S. intelligence community framed guidelines for sharing intelligence with their Israeli counterparts, but top White House policymakers ultimately determine whether any violation has occurred, people familiar with the process said.
U.S. intelligence agencies compile instances of potential violations of the laws of armed conflict by both sides in Gaza as part of a biweekly report titled the “Gaza Crisis Potential Wrongful Acts Summary,” outlining specific incidents and trends related to the war, one of the people familiar with the process said. . . .
Israel is responsible for certifying its own compliance [with U.S. law], and in some cases does so orally, officials said. In addition, they said, it is hard to know how U.S.-provided intelligence is used once it is combined with Israel’s own data.[8]
Maegan Vazquez, “Michigan lawmaker says Gaza should be approached ‘like Nagasaki and Hiroshima,’” Washington Post, March 31, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/30/michigan-lawmaker-gaza-hiroshima/
Warren P. Strobel and Nancy A. Youssef, “U.S. and Israel’s ‘Unprecedented’ Intelligence Sharing Draws Criticism,” Wall Street Journal, March 31, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-and-israels-unprecedented-intelligence-sharing-draws-criticism-a85979b4
Illiberalism
Gilead
White Christian nationalism
Fig. 3. If one weighs by geography rather than population, Pennsylvania is very much a white Christian nationalist kind of place. Photograph by author, January 5, 2023.
Heather Cox Richardson, “March 30, 2024,” Letters from an American, March 31, 2024, https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-30-2024
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Infrastructure
Fig. 4. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
Ryan Deto, “Pittsburgh’s hidden T station is getting new life. Is there a future?” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, March 30, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghs-hidden-t-station-is-getting-new-life-is-there-a-future/
- [1]Reuters, “Ukraine puts destroyed Russian tanks on display in Kyiv,” August 25, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/ukraine-puts-destroyed-russian-tanks-on-idUSRTSALV9Q↩
- [2]Heather Cox Richardson, “March 29, 2024,” Letters from an American, March 30, 2024, https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-29-2024↩
- [3]Heather Cox Richardson, “March 29, 2024,” Letters from an American, March 30, 2024, https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-29-2024↩
- [4]Heather Cox Richardson, “March 29, 2024,” Letters from an American, March 30, 2024, https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-29-2024↩
- [5]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩
- [6]Maegan Vazquez, “Michigan lawmaker says Gaza should be approached ‘like Nagasaki and Hiroshima,’” Washington Post, March 31, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/30/michigan-lawmaker-gaza-hiroshima/↩
- [7]Warren P. Strobel and Nancy A. Youssef, “U.S. and Israel’s ‘Unprecedented’ Intelligence Sharing Draws Criticism,” Wall Street Journal, March 31, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-and-israels-unprecedented-intelligence-sharing-draws-criticism-a85979b4↩
- [8]Warren P. Strobel and Nancy A. Youssef, “U.S. and Israel’s ‘Unprecedented’ Intelligence Sharing Draws Criticism,” Wall Street Journal, March 31, 2024, https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-and-israels-unprecedented-intelligence-sharing-draws-criticism-a85979b4↩