The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

Putin Sanctions Must Remain...He's on the Ropes :  Clearly, offering an olive branch doesn't work. Only tightening the noose will. The triumph of Russian ( Putinistic ) Byzantinism  (politicized official state religion) or the ecumenical victory for Christianity ?  The future will tell...  »   The Pope, the Patriarch — and a Little Bit of Putin - Foreign Policy (blog) 12/02/16 19:46 from  Putin - Google News Foreign Policy (blog) The Pope, the Patriarch — and a Little Bit of Putin Foreign Policy (blog) The Pope, the Patriarch — and a Little Bit of Putin . The meeting between the heads of the two churches in Cuba on Friday wasn't just abo... Moreover, the focus on the state of Christianity in the Middle East is a public relations win for the Russian Orthodox Church, which is trying to shore up its position in Russia by presenting itself as the defender of persecuted Christians around the world...  Kirill hopes to use the meeting with Francis as a chance to as

Putin and politics loom over the Pope and the Patriarch Saturday February 13 th , 2016  at  11:30 AM 1 Share Pope Francis and Patriarch Kiril exchange a document on religious unity in Havana on Friday. It is the first meeting between a pope and a Russian patriarch As the heads of the  Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox  churches met on Friday for the first ever such meeting, their aides aimed to keep things simple. “We don’t want this to become a big political show,” said Father Alexander Volkov, spokesman for the Moscow patriarchate. And yet when Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill retreated into a room at Havana’s José Martí International airport  in a renewed attempt to mend a troubled relationship  that has split Christianity for almost a millennium, they had another man to thank, and a politician at that: Russian president Vladimir Putin. Alexander Andreev, Russia’s ambassador to the Vatican, told Russian newspaper Kommersant that “persona