Open Thread #29

Vicki Nuland submits (her resignation)

Busy working away on the next entry of the Spanish Civil War series, I was alerted by a friend to the news that Victoria Nudelman (aka Vicki Nuland) is leaving her post.

This is a perfect excuse to post an open thread to let all of you comment on this big news. And it is big news: Vicki spearheaded the USA’s Russia policy under both President Obama and President Biden (don’t forget that she was Cheney’s key advisor during the War in Iraq, either). Married into the Kagan family, this cohort is the epitome of American Neo-Conservatism.

My initial read on the news of her resignation is that her maximalist goals regarding Ukraine and Russia have lost favour in the White House, and probably in other centres of power in DC. They had their chance with the failed summer counteroffensive, but that fell flat on its face. It very much looks like the USA wants to cash its chips in and call it day, so that it can assign Ukraine to Europe and so that it can finally begin its long-awaited Pivot to East Asia in order to contain China.

What do you guys think?

In other news, I recorded a podcast two weeks ago, and will be recording another one next week. I’ll share both of those with you when the second one is posted.

I must now return to my research chamber.