Putin's antics are risible, but they are very effective politically.

When he talks about "Russia's roots", he's talking about the Kievan Rus, whose territory is known today as "Ukraine." But accuracy is not important to him.

The closest thing to him in the US is Donald Trump.

There is a real danger of a wider war in Europe, between Russian military provocations and strategic western threats such as proffered treaties with Ukraine.

PISSI murdered one of the greats of Syrian archeology.

I read elsewhere that he had refused to tell his captors where to find ancient artifacts that had been saved from them. That makes him a martyr for history.

Companies use slave labor for their workforce in Eritrea, including a Canadian mining company. The government may not give them any choice about this, but it is wrong to operate in such a country.

A Ukrainian who protested Putin's takeover of the Crimea is now being tried for imaginary crimes that he was tortured into confessing to.

He says the trial is political and bogus. I don't think Putin would permit an honest trial.

I wish that the US could condemn this with a straight face. The US must eliminate the Guantanamo "military tribunals" that were set up to deny defendants their legal rights.

We must not make the mistake of exaggerating either the capacity or the actions of PISSI.