What more important political actor than a Brookings ‘fellow’ to add to the Mythology that Putin is ‘The New Stalin’ : such is Putin’s ‘evil’, in the patois of  Political Theology, that all these mysterious poisonings- where are the Skripal’s ? that were also ‘poisoned’ by ‘Novichok‘, its mythical toxicity was nearly fatal in minutes, or less?
Brookings and its Policy Technocracy has brought the production of human suffering – this coterie is the natural inheritors of Herman Kahn, and his ‘thinking the un-thinkable’.

Constanze Stelzenmüller constructs a plausible narrative from press reports of Merkel and her domestic critics. Not to forget the part that other E.U. members play in this melodrama:

Divisions are also evident at EU level. While Josep Borrell, the EU foreign minister, has condemned the use of novichok against Mr Navalny, member states are not united. Poland and the Baltic nations are fiercely opposed to the Kremlin, while Hungary, Italy and France have cultivated warmer relations, argued for lifting of EU sanctions, or attempted a policy “reset”.

Followed by this ‘evidence’ as reported in ‘a German weekly’ of Putin’s guilt, but note the appearance of ‘perpetrators’ : 

…

There can be little doubt that Mr Navalny’s poisoning was undertaken with the knowledge or tacit permission of the Kremlin; a German weekly has reported that the type of novichok used is a new and particularly lethal version, leading investigators to conclude that the perpetrators were authorised by the Russian government.

…

What follows is a Party Line admonition for Germany ‘to take the lead’, and assert ‘Europe’s sovereignty and self-respect require a crisp, hard answer.’    

…

Germany should now take the lead and pronounce that enough is enough. The Kremlin’s cynical message is directed not just at its domestic critics, but also at western governments. It says: we can act with impunity anywhere and you can’t stop us. Its purpose is to humiliate, enervate and paralyse its rivals — both painfully and publicly. Europe’s sovereignty and self-respect require a crisp, hard answer.

…

That ‘crisp, hard answer’ is not a missile aimed at The Kremlin, but about ‘suspend Nord Stream 2 (reserving the option of cancelling the project altogether).’ Hit Putin in the ‘pocket book’, what a surprise! As if economic sanctions are the answer to Putin’s ‘political thuggery’ ? On such thin, or just non-existent ‘evidence’, printed in Western Media as fact! 

Constanze Stelzenmüller provides the ‘reason’ for her political polemic, in the baldest of terms: 

Meanwhile, the EU should pursue illicit financial flows and corruption, and help renovate the Ukrainian transit pipeline. In the short term, there are many other suppliers of liquid natural gas than Russia; in the long term, the EU needs to move decisively to green fuels. It must modernise energy infrastructure and supply security across Europe, allowing no national exemptions from EU energy regulations. It should also offer refuge to those persecuted by Russia and study visas to the young. 

https://www.ft.com/content/92038be0-cd5e-402a-90df-25a6aeac617a?shareType=nongift

The renovation of the Ukrainian transit pipeline is the necessary check on Russian revanchism, one of the cornerstones of The New Cold War mythology. Stelzenmüller maladroitly embroiders on its themes. 

Political Skeptic