Author Archives: Jesse Heath

Getting Russia Wrong

Posted on January 7, 2017

On Friday, January 6, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a ‘declassified’ version of its report on Russian ‘influence efforts’ aimed at the 2016 election. It would be an understatement to say that the report is laughably … Continue reading →

Posted in chichvarkin, corruption, FSB, GRU, hacking, russia

Unpacking Russian Hacking

Posted on January 1, 2017

In the summer and fall of this year, emails and documents belonging to the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton Campaign Chairman John Podesta were published online by Wikileaks. Guccifer 2.0 – purportedly a Romanian hacker – published a smaller … Continue reading →

Posted in Cold War, Espionage, FSB, Government of Russia, GRU, hacking, secret agents, spying, Trump, u.s.-russia relations

As New Cold War Heats Up, Russia Preparing to Go It Alone?

Posted on September 24, 2016

There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before. – Sherlock Holmes (A Study in Scarlet) Brief History Lesson Leading up to the United States’ entry into World War II, Japan was reliant on trade with the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Business and Economy, Cold War, economics, FAS, Foreign direct investment, foreign investment, goskorporatsii, Government, Government of Russia, pharma, procurement, Russian economy

Ukraine Takes NYT for a Ride

Posted on August 16, 2016

On August 15, the New York Times published a lengthy, detailed article on Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort’s potential involvement in corrupt dealings in Ukraine. Two of the journalists published an overview of Manafort’s Ukraine activities last month. Unlike their campaign … Continue reading →

Posted in russia, Trump, ukraine

The Whole Putin-Trump Thing

Posted on August 7, 2016

I have been trying to write this post for two weeks now, but the issue seems to morph and expand on a daily basis. I did not want to write a ‘hot take’ that characterizes the majority of campaign coverage … Continue reading →

Posted in Clinton, Cold War, democracy, elections, foreign policy, nato, neoconservatism, nuclear holocaust, Obama, President Obama, Putin, russia, u.s.-russia relations, War

USA Quietly Inches Closer to War with Russia

Posted on July 31, 2016

Over the past few years, the Obama administration has intentionally pursued a dramatic expansion of policies that the Russian government and military consider threatening to Russia’s national security. Curiously, the Obama administration launched some of the most concerning elements of … Continue reading →

Posted in russia

Russia’s New Old Anticorruption Campaign – “We’re serious this time!”

Posted on November 20, 2014

There’s an article on Bloomberg that caught my eye (h/t @agoodtreaty). The article claims that Pres. Putin approved the launch of a ‘new’ anticorruption campaign following a meeting at the Presidential residence in October. According to the article, this was ‘shocking’ … Continue reading →

Posted in bribes, bureaucracy, clans, corruption, criminal law