Stephen Cohen: This is Most Dangerous Moment in U.S.-Russian Relations Since Cuban Missile Crisis

democracynow.org - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has wrapped up a visit to Moscow, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The meetings come at a time of increased tension between Washington and Moscow. On Wednesday during a press conference, President Trump said relations with Russia had reached a new low point. Trump’s comments came a day after the White House accused Russia of attempting to cover up the role of the Syrian government in the recent chemical attack in Syria that killed 87 people. Russia has rejected the claim, saying the U.S. has been too quick to blame Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. We speak to Stephen Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University.
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9AM ET: democracynow.org
Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today: democracynow.org/donate
FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE:
Facebook: / democracynow
Twitter: / democracynow
KZbin: / democracynow
SoundCloud: / democracynow
Daily Email: democracynow.org/subscribe
Google+: plus.google.com/+DemocracyNow
Instagram: / democracynow
Tumblr: / democracynow
Pinterest: / democracynow
iTunes: itunes.apple.com/podcast/demo...
TuneIn: tunein.com/radio/Democracy-Now...
Stitcher Radio: www.stitcher.com/podcast/democ...

[@donnellebarfield3964]

Why is so hard for the american government to get along with other nations?

[@blairschirmerx1711]

Empires don't do bilateral relationships well.

[@eatcarpet]

The need for full-spectrum dominance.

[@nicholaskephart7528]

Legate Alucard because we lost control of our Government. If popular opinion ruled and real Democracy existed those bombs would not have been dropped. Not without real proof and in accordance with international law.

[@MeltedPearls]

Legate Alucard Because we are a young, rich, spoiled nation (policy- and history-wise).

[@syourke3]

Because the U S is a terrorist empire run by a tiny elite of greedy bankers, corporations and the military industrial complex and the CIA. That is why.

[@elenaherwagen3529]

Mr Cohen 👍👍👍👍

[@heatherstahlnecker9270]

thank you courageous journalists .

[@waudio777]

This is a good analysis. Thank you Mr. Stephen Cohen.

[@waudio777]

If only the democrats are like Mr. Cohen. To the news anchor - Shame on you. Learn from him.

[@atirx7317]

waudio777 Democrats are for America not for Russia being in power. why don't you move to Your Mother Russia since you love them so much and take the rest of the Republicans with you. You are all traitors to America !!!

[@waudio777]

To Atir X: You are the case of "The pot calling the kettle black". Democrats like Mr. Cohen is for America. Democrats like you - you shame the Democrats by calling yourself Democrats.

[@manatee2500]

+waudio777 The majority of us don't make up excuses for an authoritarian regime that is a menace to our allies. You have a lock on the paranoia and delusion wing of the party.

[@waudio777]

To manatee2500: Whom do you mean by us? Which delusion and which party? If you are referring to the Democratic party, after opposing the Irag war, now you are advocating to invade Syria? Are you crazy? Assad is done for already. He is a menace to his own people and to a few rebel groups, but to Israel? Absolutely not anymore. What guarantee can there be, if Assad is gone that someone more favorable to us will take power there? How about IS? The 2004 Iraq was a mistake that we should not have made, and you are saying that we should spend more of our blood to spill in that God forsaken land?

[@tawnyjones1]

Stephen Cohen should be US Ambassador to Russia.

[@kakistocracyusa]

Cohen: describing meetings and issues critical to avoiding WWIII and nuclear annihilation. Goodman and side-kick: "Let's talk instead about the chocolate cake and what bad, bad man, Trump, said about the chocolate cake!" Cohen: (thinking) J...F...C.

[@everclearr]

Omg yes! 😂

[@euanwilliams9750]

The main issue is whether Russia gets to keep its Naval and air base in Syria. It will never give up its only base in the Mediterranean. That is why it will never give up on Assad's government. Anyone who wants to defeat Assad, will have to defeat Russia. Good luck!

[@teardrop-in-a-fishbowl]

In a world full of dangerous traps, you need friends and enemies to which one can rely on. Otherwise you get into one of these.

[@generationofswine-ge5rw]

Why not call it "the war report." There hasn't been a moment of peace in my lifetime , thanks to good ol' Uncle Sam. Isn't it time the world said goodbye to this savage animal? The US is not our friend, our colleague or our equal. You are a ravenous maniac, nothing can quench your thirst for blood and treasure. I always knew it would be the US that would bring about the end of the world. Who knew it would be led by a clown on a stick, supported by braying racists. Do they even know who they are killing or does it matter?

[@JamieHumeCreative]

No neutral proffessional invedtigation has been conducted and the longer that iscdelayed the more problematic this becomes. None of these actions based on lack of evidence...none woukdcstand up in court. Im disapointed in Democracy Now. This has me questioning your integrity for the very first time.

[@stef1773]

What would Bernie do?

[@corinneyaworski308]

Stef Bernie would not have done this. There's better things to do than anger another superpower with what he did

[@blairschirmerx1711]

8:10 - Stephen Cohen appears not to know even basic history. Every Democratic president has been repeatedly accused of treason by vocal segments of the country, and by millions of people. In Obama's case these accusations of treason were leveled every single day. In addition, there is abundant evidence of ongoing complicity between Trump, his people, Russian intelligence, and Putin, against the interests of the people of the United States, the people of Ukraine, the people of Syria, and the rest of the world.

[@dchapero6929]

Peace Puppies - spot on. I follow Cohen closely, as his positions regarding Russia/US relations should be valued. I find it scary that people will take the opinions of talking heads in the news, over positions taken by expert academics. Cohen is not the only professor to be speaking against the 'accepted' narrative - Chomsky, Wolff, Ehrlich, and more, have all spoken against past and current US actions. Thanks again for your comment!

[@corinneyaworski308]

Stef Bernie said the airstrike was not approved by Congress and he's more concerned about American interests like healthcare, free college, and not spend a ridiculous amount on military. The jobs I fear Trump will make is recruiting more soldiers.

[@corinneyaworski308]

Dave Chapman This guy is great as far as truth

[@portkembla1955]

You heard it here first, Trump said, "Russia is a strong country but the USA is a very, very strong country".

[@nimege]

Three months is all that's needed to bow to the military might. Wow!

[@charleskesner1302]

Prime Minister Tony Blair after meeting with then President Bush asked the same question. Who is in charge?

[@redspock]

Always respected Prof Cohen but this was about a year before trump's famous statement that he trusts Putin's word over US Intelligence.

[@corrocot1]

Where's part 2?

[@manatee2500]

Cohen ran out the clock again? I was wondering about that, too.

[@2345reyna]

liar..liar...liar...this is only their game.....

[@Djordj69]

A wonderfull man

[@brigidann23]

Isn't that the "SIGH... the fog of war..." guy?

[@dianeowen5258]

Democracy Now - regarding Article 4 of the 25th Amendment (President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office) --does it require Congress/administration to write this declaration or can citizen/s do it?

[@corinneyaworski308]

Best news

[@JAMAICADOCK]

Seem to remember another guy who talked peace with Russia - then suddenly attacked it.

[@manatee2500]

Seem to remember another guy who was friends with Hitler and they agreed to carve up Eastern Europe. That other guy was on real friendly terms with Hitler for a while, they even cooperated on invading Poland.

[@alexanderplatypus3664]

manatee you have not much knowledge of history my friend. go re-read the books you got this stuff from, either you misremember what you read or you never read any books, or they were propaganda. reality is ussr was getting no help from france uk etc and felt a need to keep nazi germany off its back for more time that's all. not "real friendly". the whole "carve up" thing was messed up from a contemporary perspective but you have to recall that russia and germany pre ww1 controlled all those lands for a very long time and viewed them as properly part of their countries, and simply wanted them back. so it's not exactly same as just spontaneous invasions on a whim.

[@manatee2500]

Platypus - a defender of Molotov-Ribbentrop. The little deal cooked up between Hitler & Stalin allowed Germany the security guarantees it needed to invade Poland. Just for reference, the pact was poorly received amongst western Communists. And despite evidence from the German foreign ministry, the Soviets denied the existence of the secret protocols until the bitter end. Finally, the USSR was all about the idyllic brotherhood of man...so why were the scientific socialists in Moscow so interested in violently smashing together the old parts of the Russian Empire? By your line of reasoning, there is no legitimate nationalism possible in Eastern Europe aside from Russian nationalism. And you wonder why you're always 50 years behind.

[@alexanderplatypus3664]

Why did France and UK refuse to cooperate with USSR vs Nazi Germany? Why did UK and USA businesses invest so much in Nazi Germany pre war? Ideologically and culturally Nazi Germany , UK and USA had mutual love affairs going on with quite a big chunk of their influential population and elites. You are so one sided you simply repeat the mainstream consensus propaganda designed postwar to make USA look angelic and USSR demonic

[@manatee2500]

Had the UK been able to convince Stalin to form an alliance, there would not have been a territorial side agreement to take over the Baltic states, Poland, present day Moldova, and Finland. Btw, why didn't the UK sign it's own Molotov-Ribbentrop after France fell in 1940? Britain was mostly fighting alone at that point with the US and USSR both sitting out. The UK could have kept her colonies...and that would have given Churchill 'breathing space'. On a different note, why did Stalin run and hide in his dacha for so long after Hitler invaded. Even Haiti's Preval came out of hiding 3 or 4 days after the 2010 earthquake.

[@lukeknopp4267]

**April I have a problem

[@zakgreenberg1615]

Tillerson is also a fan of the overt alpha dog handshake

[@josephinemask1909]

say what?

[@asderc1]

Spooky

[@AbcDef-dr7ck]

make campaign promises great again

[@gallagherrutledge9566]

European historian Richard Stockwell is quoted as saying, "NATO's prime concern now is to manage the risks created by its existence."

[@kylealston1598]

33

[@Kerkopes]

10:00 Trump didn't say "best cake I've ever seen", he said "best cake *you've* ever seen". Big difference. Liars like to tell you what you know & see ... "you know that, everyone knows that"

[@manatee2500]

The treason charge also applies to Cohen.

[@alexanderplatypus3664]

You think Cohen is a traitor? Wow. You literally are buying into the worst stereotypes about overzealous patriotic Americans who don't understand the world and are incapable of contemplation

[@kakistocracyusa]

The title of village idiot applies to you.

[@mrmjdza]

OH PLEASE! Putin only deals with honorable people?? What an utter crock of shit! Why do you allow such a polarized, politically archaic person (who's doing little more than speculating about conversations which MIGHT have happened) on your network??

[@blairschirmerx1711]

That's not what Cohen said, though. He said that Russia BELIEVED this to be the case.

[@mrmjdza]

Blair Schirmerx So Putin only deals with people he BELIEVES are honorable? No! He only deals with people he strongly believes are dishonourable. Oligarchs etc.

[@mrmjdza]

Playthell Benjamin​​ So, Putin is an honorable man? What about all the human rights violations? What about him holding office for decades? What about all of his political opponents being assassinated?

[@renocool1558]

of course not. He should let the US and their puppets rape Russia more easily. Then he would be an honorable man. amirite?

[@mrmjdza]

reno cool ??

[@georgemalone3318]

I guess you can be really smart and have a lot of gravitas and still be a foolish liar at the same time

[@GingerCaddy]

What do you believe he lied about?

[@renocool1558]

apparently about the notion that war is bad. Somehow that notion has become unacceptable to the retarded, brainwashed public.

[@kakistocracyusa]

You are an intellectual coward who hides behind empty insults. Try to improve.

[@erich84502ify]

Nermeen Shaikh face and eyes

[@kylealston1598]

drump

[@dribrom]

We need to put a stop to Putin at any cost....

[@luciusavenus8715]

My, my! Hasn't Cohen been a busy little bee. I cannot trust a word that man says.

[@brigidann23]

Ah I get it: now he's the "now THAT'S some good carrot cake..." guy. Please Democracy Now can you get someone else next time?

[@kakistocracyusa]

So, physicians are poorly educated in England also? One would expect more.

[@svs8909]

THIS SITE OWNED BY SOROS GLOBALIST ZIONIsT SCUMBAG

[@53Z4L]

Clicked thinking this was stephen colbert ... :)

[@bilfo71]

How naive is Stephen getting played by a Trump a Sixty year old with a personality of a six year old why would Stephen even vote for Trump during the election, this is how shallow and misguided Stephen has become in his old age.

[@kakistocracyusa]

Why not respond on the merits of his points? TDS really debilitated some previously intelligent people.

[@melvincunningham5660]

Stephen Cohen didn't vote for Trump.