| Hello from France,
This could be a historic moment—or it could all yet fall apart. The presidents of America and Russia are to meet in Alaska on August 15th. Details could easily change before Friday, but the current plan is to exclude Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, and his European backers from the summit. Vladimir Putin will sit face-to-face with Donald Trump to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Already Mr Trump—a poor negotiator—has suggested some territory could be swapped. That sounds like a concession even before talks begin. I take that to mean he expects Ukraine to cede some sovereign land to the invader, perhaps even in places not occupied by Russian forces. Such an outcome may be inevitable at the end of talks, but it’s an odd thing to offer before they begin. You can read our story analysing the proposed summit.
You might well see this as Mr Trump handing a big victory to Mr Putin. After all, it looks suspiciously like rewarding an aggressor, one who has largely ignored Mr Trump’s calls for a ceasefire. Not long ago Mr Trump was threatening more sanctions or other tough action against Russia. Now, instead, Mr Putin gets a visit to America, and his first direct meeting with an American president since 2021. That is a golden chance to shape Mr Trump’s thinking (as he has managed to do before) without pesky Europeans around to correct his lies. Ukraine has to hope Mr Trump won’t be convinced by Mr Putin offering a deal that goes directly against its interests. Western Europe is alarmed, too.
I find the choice of Alaska, the location of the looming summit, to be intriguing. Nearly 160 years ago, when this was sovereign Russian territory, the tsar opted to sell it to America for the bargain price of $7.2m (around $166m in today's money). He did so mostly to prevent Britain—a more determined rival than America, in those days—from one day grabbing the land. That deal was completed in 1867, just after America’s period of “manifest destiny” and in an era when imperial powers seized territory by force all over the globe. Mr Putin, a keen reader of Russian history, may dream that Alaska can again be the location for a deal in which Russia and America find ways to squeeze Europeans aside.
For another dose of history, the final installment of our long-running Archive 1945 project will be delivered later this week. Since January we’ve been tracking how the second world war concluded, using weekly extracts from our own archive. Following the 80th anniversary of America exploding atom bombs over two Japanese cities, our project concludes with a final report on the surrender of Japan. I’d urge you to explore the entire package, including videos, guest essays from historians and more recent analysis from my colleagues.
Many thanks to Patrick Lane for ably writing this newsletter while I was away. An avid reader himself, he asked for your choice of a favourite biography to read while on holiday. His reading list is now remarkably full. Susan Lynn, in Denver, recommended “Navalny”, a memoir by the murdered Russian opposition leader, published posthumously last year. (Our reviewer suggested that this would be recognised as a historic text.) Rosemary Jamieson urged readers to turn to “Zbig”, a new assessment of the remarkable life of Zbigniew Brzezinski. (Again, our reviewer loved it.) Finally Guido Long suggests the biography of Helen Suzman, by Robin Renwick. Ms Suzman was a strikingly liberal woman who campaigned for human rights in apartheid South Africa. My belated recommendation is perhaps less worthy than any of those, and arguably not a conventional biography. It’s inspired by the fact that I’ve recently been messing about in boats. I’d recommend David Abulafia’s stunning human history of the oceans, “The Boundless Sea”. If nothing else, it’s a break from current politics.
My question for you, inevitably, returns to the political scene and the looming Alaska summit. What are your expectations—could the fighting in Ukraine cease? Will Mr Putin outfox America’s president and leave Ukraine exposed? What of the long-term viability of Ukraine? Write to me at economisttoday@economist.com. |
