Background Briefing: April 11, 2021

On By gram

 

Putin Prepares a Knockout Blow to Defeat Ukraine’s Military and Topple Its Government

We begin with the massive Russian military buildup surrounding Ukraine in preparation for what looks like a planned knockout blow to defeat the Ukrainian military and topple the government. With Putin already one chess move ahead by putting his nuclear forces on the highest alert and deploying his mobile missiles, the signal is clear to Biden and NATO, not that their military options are good and they are likely to come to Ukraine’s defense in any meaningful way. Dr. Pavel Felgenhauer, a Moscow-based defense analyst, columnist and journalist with Novaya Gazeta, joins us to discuss the likelihood that Putin will try to topple the Ukrainian government once the ground is dry enough for an armoured assault in the northeast in concert with a landing assault on the Black Sea to quickly defeat the Ukrainian military and install a pro-Russian government in Kiev leaving a landlocked rump state in the west to fend for itself. With Secretary of State Blinken warning Russia today that “if it acts recklessly, or aggressively, there will be costs, there will be consequences,” the silence from the U.S. on Russia’s belligerent brinksmanship speaks volumes.

 

The Tripod of Anglo-British Nationalism; TV, the Tabloids, and the Monarchy

Then, with the death of Prince Philip and a week of mourning underway in the U.K. until his burial next Saturday, we speak with Adam Ramsay, the editor of openDemocracy and a member of the Scottish Green Party whose latest article at openDemocracy is “Prince Philip Was the Godfather of Anglo-British Nationalism“. He joins us to discuss how it was the Queen’s husband who first suggested televising her coronation which has led to the tripod upon which Anglo-British nationalism rests, TV, the tabloids, and the monarchy. 

 

Why the RWDSU Lost the Vote to Unionize Amazon in Alabama

Then finally we assess the election results from the efforts by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union to unionize an Amazon warehouse in Alabama which lost in a vote of 738 in favor to 1,798 against. Mike Elk, Senior Labor Reporter and Founder of the Payday Report who was senior labor reporter at Politico and spent years covering union organizing in the South for The Guardian, joins us to discuss his latest article at Payday Report “Anti-Union Amazon Workers Explain How Mandatory Anti-Union Meetings Turned Them Against the RWDSU.”