A powerful collection of essays that challenge the dangerous propaganda that is being spread by those who seek to justify Putin’s aggression in Ukraine or shift the blame onto “NATO NATO NATO”. Seasoned antiwar activists, the writers have dedicated their lives to promoting peace and human rights. Sadly, many former colleagues have gone into the camp of “tankies” — those who support authoritarian regimes. Knee-jerk opposition to American foreign policy leads too many people to buy into “anti-imperialist” rhetoric to the point of carrying water for some of the most horrendous dictators in recent memory.

The Soviet Union sent tanks into Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968; this was to suppress uprisings of people seeking freedom. The “Western left” split, and those who supported the USSR came to be known by the tongue-in-cheek appellation “tankies”. In February 2022, we again saw Russian tanks roll into Europe to suppress the national self-determination of a free people. It is difficult to remain light-hearted and keep a sense of humor when so much terrible news is coming in, but the authors maintain a respectful tone in hope that readers who are looking at “both-sides” will recognize that Russia is the primary aggressor.

This book is an essential tool for refuting the pro-Kremlin arguments which have saturated the internet. Some chapters are very accessible and can be a useful guide to dinner table discussions. Others are more scholarly, demonstrating how propaganda originates as planned psychologic operations (“psy-ops”) and spread through the ecosystem of online chatter.

If you value truth and clarity in a world of conflicting narratives, this book will provide a compass to guide you and establish certainty regarding what to believe and what to discount in the ongoing controversies pertaining to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.