by Heather Hastie | Oct 24, 2017 | Great Britain & Europe, International Politics, Middle East, Russia, US Politics, USA
The official name of the Iran Nuclear agreement is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA. It was signed in Vienna on 14 July 2015 between the Islamic Republic of Iran on one side and France, Great Britain, China, Germany, Russia, and the US on the other. The...
by Heather Hastie | Sep 14, 2017 | Religion, Russia, Tweets
As an atheist, I don’t have much time for religion. There are, of course, many believers who are important people in my life. I even have a god-daughter – despite my atheism her parents consider me to be a person who can be a good example to her. That...
by Heather Hastie | Jun 8, 2017 | Religion, Russia
There are two threads to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s disruption of Western democracies. One is to make sure that democratic government as a political system appears unstable. Thus, he makes it seem like countries are better off with some form of...
by Heather Hastie | Jan 2, 2017 | Economics, Freedom of Speech, Human Rights, Russia
2016 has been Putin’s year. He has succeeded in much of what he wants. He tells himself it’s about Making Russia Great Again. In reality, it’s about Putin himself. The Russian people are suffering and because of Putin, so are millions of others. And...
by Heather Hastie | Jan 24, 2016 | Great Britain & Europe, Russia
Staying with the leadership theme – this time an example of really bad and corrupt leadership – Vladimir Putin. A report was released this week into the death in London of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko at the age of 43. Litvinenko, who was born...
by Heather Hastie | Oct 4, 2015 | Middle East, Russia, Winners and Worries
In reality, Syria has been a worry for years. Bashar al-Assad took over the presidency, the role of commander-in-chief of the Syrian armed forces, and the leadership of the ruling Ba’ath party on his father’s death in 2000. For several reasons, including...