Welcome to this new version of the Educ Letter! For this new school year, we are offering you a renewed formula, refocused around a single article taken from the news. An article selected to allow students to enrich their copies. And supplements in the form of reading tips to approach the subject from another angle. Because mastering the news is an essential skill for students who chose the HGGSP specialty in high school (history-geography, geopolitics, political science).
article of the week
Why this article?
In the final year, the program opens on the theme: “Making war, making peace: forms of conflict and modes of resolution.” The war that has been going on in Ukraine since the Russian invasion of February 24 is part of this theme.
The article written by Matthew Chance for the site of CNN provides insight into the realities of this complex conflict. It discusses the concept of asymmetric war and shows that the theories studied in class, such as that of Clausewitz on the “little war”, apply to the reality of Ukraine.
If only one sentence had to be remembered:
“This all-powerful Russian army, presented for years as one of the most modern and formidable armed forces in the world, was nothing but window dressing. Its tanks and heavy artillery are unable to defend it, its military tactics are ineffective and its men are increasingly lost and demotivated.”
This sentence sums up the situation on the ground. And the blindness shown by the Russian authorities and some observers who spoke of a war of a few days, just after the Russians entered Ukraine on February 24. This was to forget on the one hand the resistance of the Ukrainians, who responded with fierce urban guerrilla warfare, and on the other hand the logistical errors of the Russian general staff. It was also ignoring the disillusionment of the Russian soldiers.
For further
Counterpoint : Neither blacken nor embellish, a Russian soldier breaks the omerta on the war in Ukraine.
You wonder what the Russian military think of it? The testimony of this soldier who analyzes, from his point of view, the failure of Russian strategy in Ukraine, sheds new light.
And what not to miss either this week
- The trial that threatens Donald Trump and the issues associated with it can illustrate the theme on democracy in premiere. This article sums them up perfectly.
- Finally, we recommend this interview with an expert who explains why the Chinese continue to see themselves as the center of the world. This article may introduce the power theme first.
Happy reading, and to all, good recovery!