Background Briefing: February 28, 2022
Why Ukrainians Are Fighting and What They Are Fighting For
We begin with the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on the border with Belarus which appear to have been a ruse on Russia’s part to pretend to seek a diplomatic solution while escalating their military offensives on Ukraine as they close in from the north, south and east with overwhelming force. Joining us for a perspective on why the underdog in this fight is proving to be united and resilient is Emily Channell-Justice, the Director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at the Ukrainian Research Institute, Harvard University. A sociocultural anthropologist who has been doing research in Ukraine since 2012, her current research focuses on political activism and social movements among students and feminists during the 2013 to 2014 Euromaidan mobilizations and we discuss why Ukrainians are fighting and what they are fighting for.
The Belarus Dictator Welcomes Russian Nukes and Offers up his Army to Putin
Then, following a bogus referendum which has the dictator of Belarus extending his rule while declaring the end of neutrality and the country’s rejections of nuclear weapons, we speak with David Marples, the Distinguished University Professor in the Department of History & Classics at the University of Alberta, Canada and the author of a number of books including The Lukashenka Phenomenon: Elections, Propaganda, and the Foundations of Political Authority in Belarus, Prospects for Democracy in Belarus, and Understanding Ukraine and Belarus. His latest book is The War in Ukraine’s Donbas and we discuss his article at The Edmonton Journal, “How Putin’s obsession with Ukraine led to invasion.”
Massive Texas GOP Voter Suppression is Working With 46% of Mail-in Ballots Rejected
Then finally, with primary elections tomorrow in Texas, we look into the effects of the Republican-controlled state government’s blatant voter suppression laws aimed at Democrats which have the state’s largest counties rejecting mail-in ballots at record rates, with some turning away as many as 46% of ballots. Joining us is James Moore, the bestselling author and Emmy Award–winning television news correspondent who has traveled extensively with every presidential campaign since 1976. He is the founder of Big Bend Strategies and publishes regularly at Texas to the World, and we discuss his op-ed at CNN, “The Texas primary has turned into a bad Netflix series.”