Leonid Bershidsky
Pioneer Press
Germany
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Past articles by Leonid:
Leonid Bershidsky: It’s not Ukraine’s ‘peace for our time’ moment
Two good reasons not to call for peace talks now. → Read More
Putin’s War Is Crippling Ukraine’s Economy—and Maybe Russia’s, Too
As the conflict enters its second year, it’s clear that the cost to both sides will be intolerably high. → Read More
AI Has Come to Save the Arts from Themselves
ChatGPT and DALL-E have hastened the day when artists must evaluate themselves against higher standards, above all those of originality and creative bravery. → Read More
Russia’s Strategic Bombing Campaign Is Ill-Conceived
What worked against increasingly isolated belligerents in World War II won’t beat a victimized nation that enjoys strong outside support. → Read More
As Ukraine War Drags On, Expect More Cruelty to POWs
For both sets of combatants, the growing mixture of nervous exhaustion, emotional hardening and hatred for the enemy will likely lead to more atrocities. → Read More
How the Russia-Ukraine War Can and Cannot End
Brewing talk of a diplomatic solution to the conflict demands an honest look at the possible end games. → Read More
The Wishful Theory of ‘Strategic Russian Defeat’
Advocates of the strategy want to transform Russia the way Germany and Japan were after they lost World War II. But there’s one big hitch. → Read More
Putin Has Never Cared About Red Lines
Russia’s leader doesn’t really operate according to the logic of provocation and response. Instead, he is constantly searching for opportunities to gain an advantage. → Read More
Putin’s War Has Come Home to Russia
The “partial mobilization” of reservists may have sowed unrest, but by deepening the engagement of ordinary Russians, it will sharpen the conflict for both Russia and Ukraine. → Read More
Why Putin Can’t Tap Fascism’s Greatest Resource
Neither he nor Russia’s hard-core nationalists have come up with convincing arguments to persuade ordinary post-Soviet Russians to die in a discretionary conflict. → Read More
Leonid Bershidsky: A weakened Putin is no use to Russia
None of this means that Putin is about to be toppled. → Read More
A Weakened Putin Is No Use to Russia
As military reversals erode his domestic legitimacy, Russia’s president faces an ever-darker road, and more drastic choices, in order to retain power. → Read More
Putin and the Possibility of Defeat in Ukraine
Russia’s hubris will deepen the psychological effects of its battlefield setbacks → Read More
Ukraine’s Counteroffensive Shows Time Isn’t on Putin’s Side
Russia’s president is overestimating the weakness of Europe’s democracies and underestimating Ukraine’s willingness to fight. → Read More
Putin Is Now Russia’s Deluder-in-Chief
Six months into the war, Russia's president is clearly the deceiver, not the deceived, about the conflict’s stalemate. → Read More
Mikhail Gorbachev’s Failures Did Not Go Deep Enough
The evil empire he inherited crumbled but a new one has been allowed to rise in its place. → Read More
Foreign Firms’ Russian Assets Are Lousy Deals for Locals
Most are essentially caretaker arrangements that represent, for both sides, bets on normalization, with Russian buyers bearing much of the risk. → Read More
Putin Prepares to Declare Himself a Conqueror
The Kremlin’s emerging plans for occupied Ukraine could amount to a declaration of permanent, open-ended war against other parts of Europe. → Read More
Hard Lessons From the War in Ukraine
Compromise seems impossible, neither side is sure to win and, no matter what happens, Ukraine will need lasting help from its Western supporters. → Read More
Is Breaking Up Russia the Only Way to End Its Imperialism?
Overcentralization hasn’t worked to make the country peaceful and prosperous. → Read More