This is Jacobin Nadia. I'm CZ Weisman. We spend the hour today looking at the

bellicose rhetoric and actions between Russia, Ukraine and US NATO and the European Union.

What is Putin doing and why? And what is behind the hyping of war from the United States,

United Kingdom and NATO? So much so that Ukrainian President Zelensky has asked Biden

to tamp down the rhetoric. Michael Cox, professor of international relations at the London

School of Economics, joins us to discuss how he sees this crisis, including the differences

within the European Union and NATO on how to deal with Russia. And what he thinks are

the forces and reasons Putin is doing this. Is it to force concessions on NATO, to deflect

attention on grievances at home? And is this also the case in the United Kingdom and

the United States? We'll get his take. And then Hillel Tickton, emeritus professor

of Soviet studies and Marxist studies at the University of Glasgow, joins us with his

deal of the dynamic in Russia with the United States and in the world. Tickton argues

that the long downturn and economic stagnation are the backdrop to understanding both Russia

and the United States in this crisis. We'll get his views when our program returns in

just a moment.

This is Jacobin Radio. I'm Suzy Weisman. We're going to spend the hour today talking about

the crisis in Ukraine and Russia, NATO, Europe, United States. For two months now, we have

all been treated to this terrifying prospect of war in Ukraine. Moscow has amassed something

like 127,000 troops at the border with Ukraine and the United States officials have been

calling for war, even nuclear strikes in response. Weapons and military aid are arriving

in Ukraine in abundance. So what's behind Putin's bluster at the border and the US

NATO overwhelmingly hawkish response. Many Washington officials and the media punditocracy

...