September 27, 2026

 Sunday. Left at 10:01. Blacksmith. A beautiful day, starting in early fall and progressing to late summer. Arm warmers and undershirt only excessive afterwards, on the bench, in the sun. Mostly sunny with light southerly winds. On the cool side, especially under the trees, but comfortable in the sun. De Bilt, past Zeist, toward Woudenberg. Griftdijk with successive sections of cut grass, sunflowers, and corn. Sunday quiet, but not without other recreationists. Car traffic on the Amerongseberg was light too. Down the hill into Amerongen fraught with tensions with motorists, as is frequently the case. Up at Leersum, past Ginkelduin, Ginkelseweg, and Haarweg. Hoogstraat, then a Ruiterberg busy with approaching cyclists, and Maarnsegrindweg. Up to the Pyramide, and on toward Zeist, de Bilt, and Møs. This particular loop gradually takes more and more effort, too much for even superficial observation. Saturday's AD with a story on how people in Narva, Estonia live right next door to Russia. There was some talk of NATO's role in case of a Russian intrusion or attack, but in such a way that the full implications (possibility of military escalation, or, perhaps more likely, the disintegration of NATO) in no way became clear for the casual Dutch weekend reader. But in other news there was the meeting between the German foreign minister and his Russian colleague. It appears the German minister said the right things, while the response from the Russian is instructive for all those in Europe arguing for "dialogue." There is no dialogue, there is war. Russia is determined to achieve its security goals, which, of course, are about much more than Ukraine. Ukraine did not invade Russia. The only way it threatened the interests of the regime in the Kremlin is through its association with the West. Back in 2022, that still included the United States. As the Russian president has stated over and over again, he sees Russia's (his regime's) security threatened by NATO and the EU. That is to say, he feels threatened by the things these organizations and its member states stand for, most of which are the opposite of what he deems important: the right to choose (and fire) your own government, respect for basic human rights. In the Kremlin's eyes, the West, what's left of it, is guilty by virtue of what it (imperfectly) manages to be. Existing right next-door as a community of open societies where governments are accountable to voters, it is an example to Russia's own people of how things could be different. In the early years of the twenty-first century, the West did a lot more, particularly taking in East and Central European countries eager to join the EU and NATO. Another way in which it challenged the Kremlin was through its support of, and work with, Russian civil society organizations, and through its criticism of the government whenever it limited basic civil rights. Some Westerners may have believed that rather than confronting the Kremlin, they were simply doing the right thing, standing up for fundamental human rights, but in this belief they misunderstood the Russian leader's own beliefs, including Russian imperialism, the latter widely supported by ordinary Russians. And so even though prior to 2022 there was quite a bit of East-West diplomacy, in the end the substance of the "dialogue" between Russia and the West was very meager. The Russian president was misunderstood in his anti-Western views and his determination, come what may, to push back Western influence from what he views as Russia's legitimate sphere of influence. The West, back then including the United States, could have accommodated him only at the price of abandoning its core principles. Given Washington's current line, Moscow is winning. After all, the current administration has essentially left the Western alliance. Just the other day, the two highly successful businessmen-peacmakers (Gaza, Iran, Ukraine) acting on behalf of the president told the Russian foreign minister that the war in Ukraine is the war of their boss's predecessor in the White House. It was only the latest example of Washington endorsing Moscow's view of the war.