Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski spoke on a panel at the Wilson Center on June 16 titled “Mutual Security on Hold? Russia, the West, and European Security Architecture”. Below is a transcript of his remarks.

The signing of the Association Agreement brings to a close the process which precipitated the standoff between Russia and the West. But the standoff itself is far from over.

Vladimir Putin made a small conciliatory gesture earlier this week on Ukraine, primarily aimed at stalling further EU sanctions against Russia. It appears to have worked: further European sanctions appear unlikely. President Obama, however, must not be fooled.

During the recent conference on democracy promotion put together by The American Interest and Freedom House, Walter Russell Mead sat down with Robert Kagan to discuss grand strategy in the age of Obama. Below is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.

Peter Beinart predicts liberal Democrats will eventually see that President Obama deserves much of the blame for the Iraq mess unfolding before us. If so, Obama’s legacy really could end up being more Carteresque than anything else.

Putin asks the Russian parliament to nix his open mandate to send soldiers into Ukraine. But don’t count on this being his last word.

Fouad Ajami, author, teacher, public intellectual, died yesterday at 68. His work will remain vital for those wishing to understand the Arab world of the late 20^th and early 21^st centuries.

How China’s bitter disappointment at the Paris Peace Conference sparked the outrage that would lead to the country’s long revolution—and the grudges that persist today.

To say that Snowden acted according to his conscience, but then to excuse his decision to become a fugitive and argue we should ignore his character and focus on what his acts revealed, is to mistake the nature and importance of conscientious action.

Responding to public outrage, The Met has canceled global simulcasts of its staging of The Death of Klinghoffer in 2,000 theaters and 65 countries—a clear admission of the opera’s potential to spread hatred. The eight New York performances should be canceled as well.