Pro-Russian demonstrators take part in a rally in central Donetsk. (Reuters/Konstantin Chernichkin)
“The shootdown of [Malaysian Airlines MH17] was something we couldn’t foresee,” Stephen Cohen said Tuesday on the John Batchelor Show. “Historians will look back and say that these nearly 300 souls that died on that plane disaster were the first nonresidential victims of the new cold war.” The conflict, Cohen said, has worsened as a result of the Kiev government’s bombing and mortaring of two large pro-Russian cities in eastern Ukraine—where scores of civilians, including many women and children, have died. Why is Kiev doing this? And why is the White House going along with it? Cohen provided a plausible (and highly concerning answer): “To bate Russia, Putin, into intervening militarily so that NATO will intervene militarily. And that means, somewhere, someone in a position of influence wants a Russian war with NATO and that means a Russian-American war.” —Alana de Hinojosa
Stephen F. CohenStephen F. Cohen is a professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University. A Nation contributing editor, his most recent book, War With Russia? From Putin & Ukraine to Trump & Russiagate, is available in paperback and in an ebook edition. His weekly conversations with the host of The John Batchelor Show, now in their seventh year, are available at www.thenation.com.