Sidebar/Content - L Todd Wood

Washington Times: Behind The Curtain-Putin’s Financial Wisdom

Russian President Vladimir Putin liRussian President Vladimir Putin lived through the collapse of the Soviet Union, a fact often noted by pundits when attempting to offer a glimpse into his view of the world. However, Mr. Putin also lived through the Russian default and financial collapse of 1998, and both events have seared certain lessons into his psyche…

Washington Times: Ukrainian Politicians Doing Putin’s Job For Him

Everyone knows the story of how Russia has tried to keep Ukraine in the Kremlin’s orbit and prevent the Ukrainian people from moving closer to the European Union. After all, this is the reason there is still a war smoldering in Donbass on the Russian border in the Ukrainian East. Moscow has worked to keep Kiev unstable after the Maidan Revolution and therefore unable to grow economically and politically, in a bid to extract an exorbitant cost for Ukraine’s desires…

Washington Times: Ukrainian Politicians Doing Putin’s Job For Him

Washington Times: Why Would Iran Be Worried About Saudis Fighting ISIS? Because It’s Not About ISIS

If there ever was a more telling statement issued by a foreign power regarding underlying agendas in the Middle Eastern conflict than Iran’s statement on the Saudis entering the war against the Islamic State, I don’t know what it is…

Washington Times: Russia Decides To Trade East Ukraine For Sanctions Relief

Yesterday, Secretary of State John Kerry said in Davos that sanctions against Russia could be removed in a period of a few months. The diplomatic, public statements along with movement of Western diplomats on the ground, meeting with their Russian counterparts, suggest Moscow has chosen to trade East Ukraine for sanctions relief to save their plummeting economy…

Washington Times: Collapse of crude oil price could force Putin to surprise the world militarily

Russian President Vladimir Putin has surprised the world multiple times in the past several years militarily. His invasion and subsequent annexation of Crimea, combat support of the pro-Russian separatists in East Ukraine, and the landing of an expeditionary force in Syria, cementing a new Russian presence in the Middle East, are some recent examples that caught the West off guard. 2016 could very well bring additional geopolitical surprises from the Kremlin…

Collapse of crude oil price could force Putin to surprise the world militarily.

Washington Times: Obama’s Disrespect of Putin Coming Home to Roost

I find it very disturbing the number of times that President Obama has disrespected Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Obama’s behavior is not fitting for a president of the United States, and it has produced serious blowback…