FIFA has suspended Russia from international competition, potentially excluding Russia from the World Cup in Qatar later this year. There are several reasons why the Ukraine invasion has served to break FIFA’s policy of viewing national teams apolitically. The brutality of the Russian aggression is one, the self-evident innocence of Ukraine is another.
The Conversation
Sanctions Won’t Topple Putin
Putin’s support was not so big anyway: why else would the administration indulge in massive election fraud? Sanctions that make Russians poorer are therefore unlikely to motivate them to vote differently.
Can Rich Nations Stop Buying Russian Oil?
Sanctions against Russia’s oil industry would have a greater impact than limiting natural gas flows because Russia’s oil receipts are higher and more critical to its state budget. Russia earned over US$110 billion in 2021 from oil exports, twice as much as its earnings from natural gas sales abroad.
Putin’s ‘Denazification’ Slur on Ukraine
The victims of the genocide claimed by Putin are Russian speakers; the Nazis he referenced are the elected representatives of the Ukrainian people. Russian speakers have more freedom in Ukraine than they have in Russia, where Putin’s authoritarian government routinely suppresses political dissent.
Who Is Ketanji Brown Jackson?
Ketanji Brown Jackson is supremely qualified. She has not just an elite education – she went to Harvard for both college and law school – she clerked for the retiring justice whose place she will take, Stephen Breyer.
Setting the Record Straight on Ukrainian and Russian History
Much of the history of Ukraine and Russia the public is hearing is incomplete, some of it is wrong, and some of it is obscured or refracted by the self-interest or the limited perspective of who is telling it. Here’s a corrective.
Taxpayers: Expect Serious Delays from IRS This Year
Over 15 million returns and 5 million pieces of taxpayer correspondence from 2021 sit untouched – including 6 million original 1040s. Amended 2021 returns are taking more than 20 weeks to process. It’s not just complicated returns that are getting delayed. Even simple individual returns are caught in the backlog.
At Least 650 Migrants, a Record, Died on the US-Mexico Border in 2021
A majority of people crossing the border are not from Mexico, having traveled instead from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. People migrate and attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico border for complicated reasons, including violence and lack of work opportunities in their home countries.
Putin Orders Troops Into Ukraine: 5 Essential Reads
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a provocative address that could be construed as a pretext to war, claimed today that all of Ukraine belongs to Russia and formally recognized the independence of two breakaway regions in Ukraine that are controlled by Moscow-backed separatists. His government then ordered troops to those regions.
How the Loudest Voices in the Room Distort Democracy
Not all voices are pitched the same. Amplified by technology, it’s easy for a loud and relentless minority to dominate the soundscape and drown out all other points of view. That’s not democracy. It’s a form of repression.