Angry Planet

Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine are being revealed as its military is pushed back. In the Kyiv suburbs, evidence of summary executions, torture and rape are being revealed.

All countries are guilty of crimes during war, but Russia deserves special mention for its actions in the last hundred years.

At the end of World War II and the occupation of Germany after, at least 2 million German women were raped by Russian soldiers, along with other atrocities on the most brutal front in the war.

In the Afghan war, Russia was infamous for using landmines that looked like toys for kids to pick up.

And in Chechnya more rape, bombardment of civilians and executions.

Joining us to talk about this cheery topic today is Professor Amir Weiner of Stanford. He studies the Soviet Union and Russia and their way of war.

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The tank is an iconic weapon of modern war, but the truth is that it’s more than a century old. When we think of tanks we think of the battles of World War II. The Tiger and the Sherman squaring off, the relentless push of the Soviet T-34s into Eastern Europe. Or maybe you think of beige ones driving through the deserts of Iraq, keeping its crew snug and safe.

But how safe are you?

In Ukraine, Russia is losing many tanks. It’s hard to know how many exactly, and what is wartime propaganda. But, as of this podcast, the OSINT researchers at Oryx have documented a loss of 345 Russian tanks. 155  of which were destroyed.

Is the tank no longer an important part of war? Is it as outdated as the cavalry charge in the face of the Maxim gun?

Here to answer that question is Nicholas Drummond. Drummond is an Ex-British Army officer, a Defense industry analyst, and an advisor to the House of Commons defense committee. He writes at UKlandpower.com.

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Relations between Russia and the western world are complicated. In the grand scheme of things, America is but a recent addition to a long simmering rivalry that runs back a thousand years. Putin and Ukraine? Well, that’s just the latest dust up in a very long history.

So let’s talk about it.

Here with us today to suss all this out is Michael Hirsh. Hirsh is a senior correspondent at Foreign Policy and the author of the excellent piece there, Putin’s Thousand-Year War.

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According to Vladimir Putin, he’s on a quest to de-Nazify Ukraine. But what about the Nazis in his own backyard? Hell, what about the Nazis all over Central and Eastern Europe.

Right now, the Azov Regiment in Ukraine is dominating the conversation. Pictures of the ultra nationalist group are circulating online and being used to justify Russia’s invasion. But they aren’t the only fascists in the area. Far from it. But it’s complicated and Azov is part of a broad tapestry of Fascist movements in the region, including in Russia.

Here to get into all this is Michael Colborne. Colborne is a journalist working at Bellingcat where he writes about extremist movements in Europe. He’s written a lot about Azov, but his latest is about the fascists in Russia. Male State: The Russian Online Hate Group Backing Putin’s War is at Bellingcat now.

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Russia is at war with Ukraine and Vladimir Putin is making vague nuclear threats. Both Russian and U.S. officials are, mostly, trying to dial things down. A Russian defense official said they don’t have their hands on the button and the Pentagon said it had canceled the test of a Minuteman missile. And yet … days later the U.S. head of Strategic Command said America needed to modernize its nuclear forces and reminded everyone that the test had been postponed and not canceled.

If all this is leaving you a bit anxious about the possibility of nuclear war, you’re not alone. To be clear, the possibility of nuclear war is still damn low … but that doesn’t always make the anxiety go away. Something that has always helped me deal with the threat of nuclear hellfire … is pop culture.

That’s what we’re gonna talk about today.

Here to help me with that is Jacqueline Bryk. Bryk is an analog Roleplaying Game personality, a nuclear policy dilettante, and a nuke wonk gadfly. She’s the writer of many fine games including the Ten Candles hack, Nuke: “A simple, stark game about slowly dying in a city hit by a nuclear weapon.”

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This episode was originally going to be called something like not everything is the Holocaust. We were going to talk about how the Nazi attempt to kill all of Europe’s Jews during World War II wasn’t much like being told to get a vaccine or wear a mask.

But events have overtaken us. Mask mandates are falling and the war in Ukraine is all I can think about nowadays - I don’t know about you.

When Vladimir Putin ordered his invasion, he claimed he was going to de-Nazify Ukraine’s government.

That was bullshit, but like a lot of bullshit, there’s a germ of truth.

Today we’re going to talk about what it means to de-Nazify a government with a Jew at it’s head and an ambivalent history.

Joining me today is Edna Friedberg, a historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, who hosts, among other things their Facebook live show.

You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

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Returning guest and Russia expert Mark Galeotti comes on the show to give his perspective on the war in Ukraine.

You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

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We talk about war a lot on this show. It’s kind of the foundation of what we do.

But the war in Ukraine is different. Frankly, it’s scarier. It makes everyone think of World War II and World War III at the same time.

So, let’s talk about it. Was there ever a chance to stop it, and what do we think will happen next?

With us today is James Miller. He’s a foreign policy analyst and journalist who has spent extensive time in Ukraine.

You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

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Once upon a time, an enemy would pull up to your gates with his army and surround your city so that nothing could get in or out. In a short time, you’d be eating the horses, maybe the rats and, if things got bad enough and you weren’t entirely suicidal, you’d open the gates. Sometimes that would work out OK. Sometimes not.

Nowadays, countries wanting something from each other seem to have more options, but one that’s still around is the siege. We just call the sanctions. 

To discuss sanctions, their effectiveness and where they are currently applied by the United States, we are joined by Ambassador Daniel Fried. Fried spent a lifetime working at the state department, is an expert on sanctions, and is now at the Atlantic Council, a prominent Washington think tank. He’s got a new paper coming out on Nov. 17 with recommendations for the incoming administration.

You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

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It’s been a concern lurking in the minds of America’s leaders for a long time: what if Russia and China could successfully work together against the United States?

A combined Russo-China empire is the stuff of science fiction, perhaps, but what’s the reality today? What goals do they share and how well can they work together? 

And how does that cooperation affect the potential war in Ukraine?

To help us understand this situation we have Andrew Radin, who is a political scientist at the RAND Corporation. He researches European security, NATO, and Russia’s foreign and security policy.

Also joining me is Andrew Scobel.  is a distinguished fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, an adjunct political scientist at the RAND Corporation and an adjunct professor at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service.

They both worked on a RAND report called: China-Russia Cooperation Determining Factors, Future Trajectories, Implications for the United States

You can listen to Angry Planet on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is angryplanetpod.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/angryplanetpodcast/; and on Twitter: @angryplanetpod.

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