SCROLL NEWS / DISCOVERY
Search headlines
Find the stories shaping the conversation.
Results for " agree " 2,658 found 🔀 AI-powered Shuffle
The UMN, M Physicians and Fairview Health Services reach finalized healthcare agreement
On June 12, the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents voted unanimously in collaboration with other governing bodies to approve a new 10-year agreement between the University, M Physicians and Fairview Health Services, a partnership that will continue to support healthcare services and investments across the state. With the current agreement scheduled to expire at...
‘Iran is coming out of this better off, and we are far, far worse off’: Sen. Booker denounces Trump Iran agreement
Vance's push to get Iran talks started hits an early bump as weekend negotiations are put on hold
The U.S. push to start high-stakes talks with Iran has hit a snag just days just after the two countries agreed to reopen negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program and get oil traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz | KCBS All News 106.9FM and 740AM
‘If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD’: Vance’s risky gambit on Iran peace efforts
As the Trump administration neared a breakthrough in its negotiations with Iran, Vice President JD Vance jumped at the chance to be the face of a peace agreement designed to end months of unpopular war.
Iran’s ships head homeward to Gulf for ‘business as usual’ after US deal
Tracking data shows cargo vessels departing from Malaysian waters as Washington reaches agreement with Tehran
GOP Sen. struggles to say he disagrees with Trump allowing Iran to have ballistic missiles
‘It’s a vulnerability’: Vance makes a political gamble with public-facing Iran role
Some of Vance’s outside allies describe the role he is taking with the peace agreement as the best among poor options for the vice president.
Long list of U.S. concessions to Iran raises specter of a 'lost war'
Details of the framework peace agreement were finally shared with the public, revealing a raft of compromises with Tehran long opposed by Republicans.
Trump’s Iran agreement draws rare reproach from powerful Republicans
As key Republicans on Capitol Hill first learned the details of President Donald Trump’s agreement with Iran, some were so stunned that they simply wouldn’t speak about it.
Brewer Science to Acquire Semiconductor Chemical Business Line from Heraeus Epurio
Brewer Science, Inc., a global leader in advanced materials and processes for the fabrication of cutting-edge microdevices, today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the semiconductor chemicals business line of Heraeus Epurio, a recognized technology leader in ultrapure electronic chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing. The transaction will include the Heraeus Epurio semiconductor chemicals production site in Dayton, Ohio, along with the associated sales and support pers
WATCH LIVE: Vance holds White House briefing after Trump signs Iran war agreement
UND Athletics, Midco Sports extend broadcast and sponsorship partnership
GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- The University of North Dakota alongside Midco Sports announced on Thursday, June 18 the renewal of their Television and Multimedia Production and Broadcast Agreement, continuing a long-standing partnership that delivers high-quality coverage of UND Athletics to viewers across the country.
Agreement between MUSC Health, Cigna Healthcare set to expire end of June
The deadline for MUSC and Cigna Healthcare to come to a new agreement to maintain access for those insured with the company is nearing with both sides pointing
Sports is driving a large part of the entertainment economy, says Activate CEO Michael Wolf
Michael Wolf, Activate Consulting CEO and co-founder, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss Versant's media rights agreement with the WNBA, appetite for live sports, Fox's $22B acquisition of Roku, Paramount-WBD merger, and more.
Sports is driving a large part of the entertainment economy, says Activate CEO Michael Wolf
Michael Wolf, Activate Consulting CEO and co-founder, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss Versant's media rights agreement with the WNBA, appetite for live sports, Fox's $22B acquisition of Roku, Paramount-WBD merger, and more.
U.S. and Iran sign initial deal to end war and open Strait of Hormuz
The president defended the agreement, but it has been criticized as a return to the pre-war status quo, with the toughest negotiations still to come.
OhioHealth agrees to void contracts that allegedly punished payers for including competitors in-network
The U.S. Department of Justice said the settlement will save citizens of the state money and open up the market to competition.
FreeCast Launches Starlink Business Connectivity Solutions Through Strategic Reseller Agreement
FreeCast, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAST), a technology company providing streaming media aggregation, distribution, and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solutions, today an...
Vance, skeptical of foreign wars, becomes the face of Trump's tentative deal to end war with Iran
Vice President JD Vance has embraced the role of being the chief defender of the agreement he and President Donald Trump signed with Iran over the weekend.
Trump’s Iran agreement may be a dud, but he’s getting what he wants
Donald Trump insisted last month that he didn’t think about Americans’ finances when negotiating with Iran.
'Trump should renege': Iran deal faces backlash from conservative allies
Trump's Iran peace framework faces fierce criticism from allies like Pence, Haley, and Greene, who call the 14-point agreement an American surrender.
Why Trump’s Iran agreement could be a tough sell for Republicans: From the Politics Desk
Plus, the major Trump-related cases remaining at the Supreme Court.
Fox News Poll: Voters doubt new agreement will stop Iran from developing nukes
Fox News poll finds 64% of voters doubt a peace deal will keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, matching skepticism levels from the 2015 deal.
Abarca Health And LucyRx To Merge Into Alternative To Big Three PBMs
Abarca Health and LucyRx - two independent pharmacy benefit managers - have agreed to merge asregulators and the public seek a better price on prescription drugs.
Why best place in Florida to visit is 30A, according to locals
Florida locals swear 30A is the best gem to visit in the state. Here's why I agree after one trip to great places like Rosemary Beach and Seaside.
U.S.-Iran Agreement Includes Strait of Hormuz, Lebanon and More: See Full Text of the Deal
A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, disclosed what the official said was the full text of the deal between the two countries.
Anxious Republicans await details of Iran deal as Trump keeps them guessing
Republicans are awaiting full details of the president’s new agreement with Iran but early reports have exacerbated longstanding tensions over the war.
EigenQ And Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp. Announce Definitive Business Combination Agreement to Create a Publicly Traded Quantum Technology Company
EigenQ announced an agreement with Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp. that would take the quantum technology company public on Nasdaq.
EigenQ and Silicon Valley Acquisition Corp. Announce Definitive Business Combination Agreement to Create a Publicly Traded Quantum Technology Company
Transaction expected to accelerate EigenQ's mission to develop and commercialize quantum technologies across security, artificial intelligence, communications,...
Accenture to Acquire Alfahealth, Expanding Digital Health Capabilities to Accelerate Healthcare Transformation in Italy
Accenture has agreed to acquire Alfahealth, a subsidiary of Engineering Group.
US officials downplay text of the Iran agreement, saying it doesn’t account for backchannel commitments
US negotiators are working to quickly release the text of the agreement between Washington and Tehran, even as they downplay the significance of the specific language in the document, US officials told CNN.
Senate rejects resolution to block Trump from further strikes on Iran
The vote, just days after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a limited deal to stop fighting, is a setback for Democrats’ effort to force the president to bring the conflict to a conclusion.
Where Colorado's Republican gubernatorial candidates stand on business issues
The Republican gubernatorial candidates largely agree on issues like housing and job creation but offer different implementation plans.
Trump accused Obama of funding Iranian terrorism. His agreement could grant Iran access to much more money
President Donald Trump’s nascent agreement with Iran is beset by problems right now, but at the top of the list may be the issue of money flowing to Iran.
Harassment order requested in Knox County GOP dispute
On May 14, several members of the county executive committee wrote to Heather Sprague to say they disagreed with several assertions she was making about other committee members.
Inspired Entertainment (INSE) Uses Paddy Power Renewal to Reinforce Its Retail Betting Base
Inspired Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:INSE) is one of the best e-gaming and sports betting stocks to buy now. The company strengthened its betting-shop exposure on May 6, when it extended its long-term agreement with Paddy Power to remain the exclusive provider of gaming terminals and content across Paddy Power’s UK retail estate. The agreement matters because […]
Judge who had sex in courthouse and attended political event agrees to exit Georgia election case
A federal judge who was disciplined after an investigation found that she had sex with a police officer in her chambers and attended a partisan event, then lied when confronted with the allegations, has recused herself in a fight over Georgia election records after the U.S. Department of Justice raised questions about her ability to be impartial.
KU Health System Pharmacy Technicians Hold Rally to Demand Every Union Election Vote Be Counted
KU Health System has not yet agreed that all timely postmarked ballots in closely contested union elections be counted. KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Pharmacy Technicians at The University of Kansas (KU) Health System held a rally to demand that every timely cast ballot be counted in their union election and to call attention to the
Judge who had sex in courthouse and attended political event agrees to exit Georgia election case
ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge who was disciplined after an investigation found that she had sex with a police officer in her chambers and attended a partisan event, then lied when confronted with the allegations, has recused herself in a fight over Georgia election records after the U.S. Departm...
Judge who had sex in courthouse and attended political event agrees to exit Georgia election case
A federal judge has recused herself in a fight over Georgia election records after the U.S. Department of Justice raised questions about her ability to be impartial
Trump's Iran agreement raises a basic question: Is it actually a deal?
Trump hails Iran memorandum as normalizing relations, but officials say core issues like sanctions relief and nuclear concessions remain for future talks.
Vance shares how he's gearing up for lion's den debut on 'The View'
JD Vance tells Fox News Digital he hopes "The View" hosts meet him halfway as he prepares to discuss his new book and the Iran peace agreement.
Summit League expands partnerships with CBS Sports and Midco Sports
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The Summit League announced expansions of its media rights agreements with CBS Sports and Midco Sports Tuesday that will keep both partners at the center of distributing the conference’s national linear and digital network content.
Yum! Brands, Inc. Enters into Agreements to Sell Pizza Hut for $2.7 Billion
Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM) (“Yum!” or the “Company”) today announced that it has entered into definitive agreements to sell Pizza Hut for $2.7 billion in ...
Inside the White House’s Newest AI Clash With Anthropic | WSJ Politics Newsletter for June 16
Plus, President Trump spent his 80th birthday finalizing the Iran agreement as he watched the UFC contest
Americans agree that childcare is expensive. Democrats are running on it.
In a memo shared first with The 19th, three top Senate Democrats say Trump and Republicans have ‘taken a wrecking ball’ to childcare.
G7 leaders — and the rest of the world — wait for clarity on US-Iran agreement
Heading into an al fresco dinner Monday evening overlooking the azure Lake Geneva shoreline, the leaders of the world’s most powerful nations were hoping to gain clarity on what, exactly, President Donald Trump’s new arrangement with Iran entailed.
Sen. Murphy: Trump’s Agreement is a ‘surrender to Iran’ but ‘it’s good that we’re surrendering’
Senate Republicans want a say on Trump’s Iran deal
Lawmakers said they are eager to delve into the fine print, though there is a high bar to overturning any final agreement.
The Ceasefire Agreement with Iran Is Not Even Close to a “Deal”
The fact that there’s still a sixty-day window on the table for nuclear negotiations doesn’t really inspire hope.
Trump claims victory over Iran, but deal is silent on nuclear weapons
The president promised oil would resume flowing through Hormuz, though U.S. and Iranian officials differed over the initial agreement’s terms.
DC Wrap: U.S. and Iran agree to end war; Trump arrives at G7
A look at the day's biggest stories in national politics
DC Wrap: U.S. and Iran agree to end war; Trump arrives at G7
A look at the day's biggest stories in national politics
Trump’s Iran accord offers exit from war
The Trump administration and Iran's leadership agreed on Sunday to terms to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a development that has delivered significant relief to global markets.
Iran deal presents political nightmare for Netanyahu
Donald Trump's ceasefire agreement with Iran leaves the Israeli PM trapped in a new political and security dilemma.
Iran agreement: Bad, BATNA or both?
As the debate over a possible Iran agreement shifts from whether there will be a deal to what is in it, commentary is already racing ahead of the facts. We have not yet seen the text. We do not know the precise commitments, timelines or enforcement mechanisms — if any.
Newcastle agree £60million front-of-shirt sponsorship deal with KNOX: Why is it significant?
The South African sports drinks company have already committed to being the club's training ground and training-kit sleeve sponsor.
From The Sports Desk: One day after peace agreement, Iran takes field for World Cup
Iran will play New Zealand tonight in Southern California. Earlier in the day, Lamine Yamal and Spain play Cape Verde, and Mo Salah and Egypt take on Belgium.
Supreme Court to decide if migrants detained for months must receive bond hearings
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide if the government may hold noncitizens in detention for prolonged periods without a bond hearing, a case that could have significant implications for the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
Salesforce to buy Fin for about $3.6 billion
Salesforce said on Monday it had signed an agreement to acquire customer agent company Fin for about $3.6 billion.
Fox to buy Roku in $22 billion deal
Fox signed an agreement to acquire Roku in a deal valued at about $22 billion, the companies said.
HMNC Brain Health announces $50 million first closing of Series B financing and a strategic partnership with MEDICE
Financing will accelerate the development of HMNC’s neurosciences portfolio, including Phase 3-readiness activities for Ketabon (KET01) and Nelivabon (BH-200)Agreement grants MEDICE exclusive European commercialization rights for KET01, with tiered double-digit royalties and significant milestone payments MUNICH, Germany, June 15, 2026 – HMNC Brain Health ("HMNC" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage neuroscience company, today announced the successful $50 million first closing of its Series B fin
Pierre Sage signs deal to become new Crystal Palace coach
The Frenchman is set to start work on July 6 after agreeing a three-year deal to succeed Oliver Glasner.
BioSTL Builds Gateway for U.K.'s National Health Service Innovators with St. Louis as Launch Point into U.S. Market
BioSTL Global, the international arm of BioSTL, the backbone of the region's bio-innovation ecosystem, has reached an agreement with the innovation network commissioned by the U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS) that promises to attract new companies to St. Louis' nationally recognized healthcare industry.
The Batture sparks legal fight between childhood friends who became business partners
The longtime friends and business partners are splitting up over a disagreement about how Jacobson is running the Batture, a 10-acre park on the Uptown riverfront.
The Batture sparks legal fight between childhood friends that became business partners
The longtime friends and business partners are splitting up over a disagreement about how Jacobson is running the Batture, a 10-acre park on the Uptown riverfront.
Saint-Gobain sells Dahl business to Kesko for $1.7 billion
France-based construction group Saint-Gobain agreed to sell its specialist distribution business in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, primarily under the Dahl brand, to Finnish retailer Kesko for €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion), the company said on Monday.
Trump sought to break Iran’s regime. He settled for reopening Hormuz.
The emerging agreement ends a costly war but leaves Iran’s leadership intact and its nuclear future still subject to negotiation.
The true test of Trump’s Iran agreement will come only if the fighting stops
The mixed martial arts fights at President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday party showcased the power of dominance and unequivocal victories.
Trump celebrates his 80th birthday with an Iran deal and UFC cage fights at the White House
President Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday by hosting a UFC cage-fighting event on the White House South Lawn while announcing an initial agreement to end the war in Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, potentially easing oil prices. The spectacle blended politics, entertainment, and diplomacy.
Oil prices fall on US-Iran agreement
Oil prices dropped on Sunday after President Donald Trump said an agreement with Iran had been reached and the United States would end its naval blockade on the country.
U.S. and Iran reach agreement to end war, Trump says
The deal commits Tehran to forgo the development or acquisition of nuclear weapons in exchange for helping reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
WSJ Politics Special Edition for June 14: Trump’s Iran Deal Will Hinge on These Things
Here are the main issues to watch to see if this agreement is for real.
Trump Claims Strait Will be ‘Permanently Toll Free’ Under Agreement With Iran
In a call to The New York Times, President Trump praised Russia and China’s leaders and described Israel’s prime minister as “a very difficult guy.”
Marc Cucurella transfer news: Real Madrid reach agreement to sign Chelsea full-back
Real Madrid have struck a deal with Chelsea for Marc Cucurella; the move is a blow to incoming Blues boss Xabi Alonso, who is already short of experienced players; Cucurella was a priority signing for new Real manager Jose Mourinho; they fought off competition from Barcelona and Man City
Trump celebrates 80th birthday with Iran deal ahead of UFC fights on White House South Lawn
Trump marked turning 80 on Sunday by hailing an agreement to end the war in Iran hours before a birthday celebration that once would have seemed unfathomable: a cage-fighting show on the South Lawn of the White House.
UK and Japan agree £18bn investment deal
Japanese firms will spend billions on UK infrastructure and offshore wind, Downing Street says.
Who are the internal replacements for Cardinals trade chips?
Midway through June, I believe it is time we can all believe that the postseason is a real possibility for the St. Louis Cardinals this year. FanGraphs agrees, putting the Cardinals above a 50% chance to play in October, but we would still be smart to temper overall expectations for this season. The overall strategy […]
6 said killed in Gaza strikes as Hamas health ministry says war toll surpasses 73,000
Terror group says it responded to 15-point Board of Peace blueprint aiming to push ceasefire to next stage, although sources say disagreements remain over disarmament issue
Why Paul Skenes, at the center of the MLB's labor battle, believes the players need to dig in
When it comes to negotiations for the MLB’s next collective bargaining agreement, there are some misconceptions that Paul Skenes would like to clear...
Broncos Country highly anticipating the Davis Webb offense
It is rare in Broncos Country for fans to highly agree — other than that we hate the Raiders and Chiefs. So when a poll generates a response where 95% agree, it’s noteworthy. Based on our SBNation Reacts poll, this crowd has high expectations for Davis Webb in his new role as Broncos’ offensive coordinator, […]
In Retrospect: Poland, Russia, Europe
In April I spent a few days with Zryw, a Polish non-profit organization that recruits young people to enter politics and public life. Their aim is to build a new generation of civic leaders in Poland. I’ve followed their evolution from the beginning; my son is one of the founders. (“Zryw” means “impulse” or “burst of speed” in Polish). Julie Chmielewska, one of Zryw’s leaders, interviewed me at the event. Here is the conversation, lightly edited for grammar and context: Julia Chmielewska: Assuming that culture shapes institutions, could we conclude that some cultures are more prone to authoritarianism? Anne Applebaum: I don’t think so. Every culture, every nation, and every country has the potential for change. When we look at history, we can see that nations do change. Poland has changed, for example, from the 1980s to today. There’s a completely different mentality here than the one I encountered when I first visited, in 1988. The current generation sees the world through a different frame. So no, I don’t believe that certain nations are doomed to authoritarianism, or to anything. Of course, there are political and cultural traditions, but they can always be challenged. JC: So do you think there’s something intrinsic in human nature that pushes people to democracy, freedom? AA: I think there is something in human nature, a deep instinct, that pushes people towards freedom, yes. People who live in authoritarian countries – and I’ve heard this from them over and over again – sooner or later find themselves angered by a feeling of helplessness. They can see the unfairness of crooked courts, irrational political decisions. They naturally dislike the fact that somebody has all the power while they have none. In those circumstances, people who have no political background at all sometimes are politicized just by that frustration. I’m thinking of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, for example, who was a Belarusian housewife, until the circumstances of her husband’s arrest forced her to become a politician. I met a woman who is a Uyghur from China, and who had come to live in Turkey. After several of her family members were arrested, she too was propelled into a political role. These kinds of experiences make people interested in democracy or political reform, even if they thought they didn’t care. I also think that the opposite is true: some people instinctively prefer homogeneity, order, hierarchy. They don’t like the confrontation of opinions or the noise of debate, and they lean towards a single leader or a unified regime. I think that most of modern history is shaped by the clash between those two different sides of human nature. JC: Which force do you find more powerful today? AA: I think they both have a lot of power and there’s no way of predicting who wins. Even in countries that seem very shut off or stuck in an authoritarian system can change. We’ve seen that happen. And vice versa, I think democracies can also begin to fail and slide into authoritarianism. So it’s very important not to be complacent in either direction. JC: I want to go into your history and your experiences. You’ve lived in Russia during a time of incredible change in the late 80s, and then you came back to do research in post-Soviet Russia. AA: I was a student in Russia just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. I then traveled and worked there extensively in the 1990s, and I met people who really were full of hope. They hoped that Russia could become a democracy, or at least a place that guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of the press. These weren’t ideas that came from Washington. Although now the narrative in the Kremlin is different, I met many people who were working towards exactly that kind of transformation. A friend of mine ran a series of seminars – once a year, and then later several times a year, in cities all over Russia – designed to get people to discuss politics in new ways. She invited young politicians and journalists, as well as foreigners. I went to many of them, in Moscow as well as Volgograd and Novosibirsk. Over two decades, hundreds of people came to these seminars, and all of them wanted Russia to be different. I remain convinced that many Russians still want Russia to be different. It’s just that the old system, in the form of Putin, a representative of that system, returned. The KGB reimposed their power. And this wasn’t because of something to do with culture, this was to do with money and politics, and who was in charge. JC: You’ve partially answered my question... I wanted to ask whether that excitement of the 1990s was an exception from the Russian historical norm which has been rather authoritarian? AA: Of course, if you look at the history of Russia since the 18th century, there have always been liberal groups, reformers and revolutionaries. There were the Decembrists, in the early 19th century, and the rural populists later on, who tried to organize the peasantry. A significant group of liberal Russians appeared at the turn of the 20th century, people like the father of the writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was a Russian politician before the revolution. These groups were small in number, but sometimes had a broader significance. The Russian dissident movement in the 1950s and 1960s actually invented the modern human rights movement. It was their idea to hold the leaders of the Soviet Union accountable for the language they used, to remind them of the treaties they had signed and the promised they had made. They created the Helsinki group, for example, that held Soviet leadership to the language of the Helsinki Treaty, which formally ended the Second World War and which contained guarantees of human rights, at least on paper. That idea spread to Eastern Europe, and similar tactics were used here in Poland. (Benjamin Nathans recently wrote a great book about the Soviet dissidents, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause) JC: But seemingly, even if they do ever get power, they could never hold on to it. AA: We don’t know, because they have never really had power. But in any case, we also don’t know what will happen in the future. There is no reason to assume that Russia will forever be condemned to totalitarianism. Even during the first fifteen years of Putin’s regime there was some form of democratic politics. Only when the full-scale war began did he bring everything to an end: he shut down all remaining independent organizations and killed his most important opponent, Alexi Navalny. But does that mean he is popular, that he enjoys legitimacy? Even now, we don’t really know what Russians think about him, or about the war. There is no way of doing real polling in Russia because nobody will answer an independent pollster over the phone. JC: Do you think that the flock of young people, especially young men, who fled Russia after the start of the war represent a continuation of liberal movements that refuse to partake in the authoritarian state, or do you think they are moving for the sake of self-preservation – “I don’t want to go to the army, so I leave”? AA: I’m sure it’s both. I actually know many people who left Russia for political reasons either in the very last years before the war, or else just after the war began. JC: And do you see a change in the young generation versus the old one that have fled? AA: It’s hard for me to say because the people who I know were mostly already politicized. I do know some younger people who left, but most of them were already either active in the opposition, or working as journalists. Many of them very self-consciously think of themselves as maintaining Russian culture abroad, just as in the 20th century the Soviet dissidents or the anti-communist White Russians once thought of themselves as people who maintained the true Russian culture, outside of Bolshevik Russia. JC: Let’s move on to Poland. One of your first experiences with Poland was reporting on Margaret Thatcher’s first state visit, in the autumn of 1988. You followed her around the farmers’ market. AA: She was making a symbolic gesture. She wanted to welcome free markets, but the only one she could really visit was the farmers’ market at Hala Mirowska. JC: And I want to talk about this area because today you can look out of any window in that district, Mirów, and see rows and rows of skyscrapers. How does it feel to see a country built from the ground in such a short time, both politically and economically? AA: You know, when you’re living in a period of dramatic change, it’s always hard to know whether the change is positive or negative. The transformation in Poland created winners and losers, as well as new classes of people, new political movements of different kinds. At the time, it sometimes just felt like turbulence. Now, we can look back at the 1990s and early 2000s in Poland and see in retrospect that the country was headed in towards prosperity and European integration. In around 2009 or 2010, I remember speaking to a woman who worked cleaning government offices, and who asked me if her daughter should study in Amsterdam or in London. This seemed to me to be a real transformation, and it happened very fast: within a few years, Poles stopped feeling like second-class Europeans, and a generation of younger Poles appeared who had no qualms about crossing borders. JC: We again live in turbulent times. Do you think we’re heading towards positive outcomes? AA: I can’t make predictions, because everything that happens tomorrow depends on what people do today. Also, history doesn’t have a trajectory. It doesn’t move in a particular direction. You only think it does afterwards. As I said, you can look afterwards at Poland in the 1990s and you could say this was a period of great progress. But not everybody at the time saw that. Sometimes people are very wrong about a given country’s trajectory. I remember people writing about Ukraine in the 1990s, about how dangerous it was that Ukraine was independent, that this was going to be an anti-semitic state, that Ukrainian nationalism was going to come back... and although you can say many bad things about Ukraine, the country made many bad choices, actually it became a pretty tolerant state which now has a Jewish president and until recently a Muslim defense minister. JC: In the 1990s Poland’s and Ukraine’s GDP were roughly similar. Ukraine was even a bit richer. So the starting point was similar for both of these countries, but they’ve turned out very, very differently. Even if we stop in 2014. Why do you think Ukraine “chose East”? Was it external influence? AA: No, I think Ukraine was in a different position. First of all, central and eastern Ukraine had been part of the Soviet Union since the 1920s, and had therefore experienced a longer period of occupation, repression, Sovietization and even Russification. Ukraine did not have, as Poland did, an alternative elite: a large cadre of economists and politicians, who already had some experience in opposition politics and in independent thinking. In Poland, the transformative finance minister, Leszek Balcerowicz, had already thought about how an economy might be decentralized before he took office. We can argue about how successful he was, but at least he was prepared to try something new. In Ukraine, people weren’t prepared. For one, there hadn’t been much space even for an illegal opposition in the previous couple of decades. Ukraine was also in many ways still emerging from colonial occupation. For the previous couple of centuries, many of the most capable Ukrainians had moved to Russia, and the first generation of leaders in independent Ukraine tended to be former Soviet apparatchiks. They didn’t immediately seek to become closer to western Europe. Instead, they looked for some kind of economic and political “third way” and an accomodation with Russia. Ukraine became stuck in this position, half-in, half-out and became pretty profoundly corrupt. JC: The Polish alternative elite had a vision of where they wanted the country to go. I think the general perception now is that this vision ends with the next election, right? Is this a natural process of gaining power? AA: Their vision, and it was shared by the time by politicians who now call themselves both left and right, was that Poland should join the EU and NATO, as fast as possible. My husband (Radek Sikorski) was in the very first government that said it wanted to join NATO. At the time this was taken very badly in Washington: the demand for NATO membership absolutely came from Poland, not from the US. But even then, in the early 1990s, many Poles already understood that the Russian sphere of influence would grow once again, that it was important to become part of the transatlantic alliance and an integrated Europe as fast as possible: NATO, the EU, the Council of Europe, all of the trading and security alliances. That consensus lasted through several different governments and over many years, even governments containing former communists. For twenty years, right, left and center disagreed about many things, but they all agreed on the direction that the country should go. In retrospect, that consensus created the basis for prosperity in Poland. JC: And regarding the Polish-Ukrainian relations. We know that antagonisms, e.g. the myth of Wołyń [a massacre of Poles that took place in what is now Western Ukraine, in 1943] are increasingly used in Polish political discourse today. In Ukraine, nationalist historians make heroes out of UPA, the Ukrainian revolutionary army, which is held responsible for this tragedy. Where do you see a start for burying the hatchet? Is the reconciliation of our nations possible? AA: So here’s a strange thing: For more than a decade after they both gained independence, Poland and Ukraine participated in a number of projects that were designed to solve exactly these kinds of Polish-Ukrainian differences. Books were published that were jointly written by Polish and Ukrainian historians, monuments were built. These projects were successful: If you’d asked me this question in 2010, I would have said that there are no real historical issues between Poland and Ukraine, that the two countries had mostly reconciled. For a number of reasons, this began to shift. In Poland, children and grandchildren of victims of the Wołyń massacre felt their tragedy hadn’t been fully recognized. In Ukraine, nationalist groups wanted the UPA partisans who had fought against the Soviet Union recognized for their heroism, despite the fact that some in this broad and not well-defined group were also linked to Wołyń. In both eastern Poland and western Ukraine, the memory of the ethnic cleansing that took place there in the late 1940s - Poles were moved West, Ukrainians East - to accomodate new borders has left feelings of displacement and bitterness. The wave of Ukrainian immigration, which started before the war, may have provoked some of this. But don’t underestimate the role played by Russia, which has always wanted to create discord between Poland and Ukraine, and pumps out propaganda to that effect in both countries. Vandalism on both sides of the border, damage done to cemeteries and monuments, is sometimes carried out by provacateurs working for Russia, just to create bad feelings. The Polish-Ukrainian conflict also hides a different reality: although there are real grievances and bad memories, the truth is that the biggest tragedies both nations experienced in the twentieth century were inflicted by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. That should unite these two countries, not divide them. JC: This week (19.04.2026 – Ed.) in Hungary we saw that using historical narratives to create grievance has no longer worked. Are you optimistic about the direction after Orban’s loss? AA: The Hungarian election was really important because it shows that people can actually resist powerful, dominant propaganda. The ruling party Fidesz controlled all of the TV, 90% of the newspapers, the constitutional court, the bureaucracy... and yet people had the nerve to vote against it and resist it. It’s also an important election because Hungary created a huge network of well-funded think tanks and foundations that were funding other far right groups and projects. So that loss is going to have a knock-on effect in other places too, maybe even in Poland. JC: What you’ve said about resisting propaganda reminds me of one of the interviews you did about talking to Russians in the post-Soviet era who claimed that people knew that the system was lying. Why do people choose to believe in these regimes anyway? AA: Because it’s useful. Stephen Kotkin, an American historian, once described how people would learn how to “speak Bolshevik”: It was just a language that you needed to use in order to get by in society. If you didn’t talk the way the regime wanted you to talk, then you might have problems, or lose your job, or your kids would not get into university. It was a way of getting along. Communist Poland was similar, at least in the early years. When I was writing a book about the Sovietization of Eastern Europe after World War II, I met a lot of people who wanted to talk a lot about the war, when many of them had done really heroic things. But almost nobody wanted to talk about the decade afterwards, between 1945 and 1956. This was when you had the short period of terror, violence and Polish Stalinism. To stay safe, people felt the need to just go along with what others were saying, or stay out of politics, or use communist jargon without necessarily believing it. I don’t judge them for it, and I wouldn’t describe all of those people as collaborators. It’s easy to feel moral certainty in retrospect, because we know that communism ended. But if you were living in 1949, it might not have been clear to you that communism was going to end. In very repressive societies, maybe about 10% of people who are really evil – collaborators, torturers. Maybe 10% of people are really brave and who find ways to resist. And then around 80% of people have kids, they have parents, they have to have jobs and they’ve had to get through it somehow. Strange though it may sound, I’ve found that the work I did on that book is now very useful in explaining some of what’s going on in the United States today. There are plenty of members of the Republican Party in Congress who know perfectly well that Donald Trump says many things that aren’t true. But they avoid criticizing him because it’s inconvenient, because they would get in trouble, because someone would attack them on the internet. So actually you don’t even need mass terror to get people to conform. JC: Is Gen Z reinventing agency? AA: We’ll see. In any generation you can find groups of people who want agency. If you live in a society that’s unfair, for example where a tiny number of people have captured most of the wealth, then at a certain point people rebel. This is always easier for younger people, who have you have less to lose. The question now is how the internet will affect the relationships between citizens and the state, and how it will change organizations. The “Twitter revolutions” people spoke about as early as 2008-9, mass protests organized online, have often proved to be very superficial. Although you can easily join something just by clicking, the work of creating a real movement requires physical participation. Successful mass movements of the past, for example the Civil Rights movement in the United States, were built by people who had spent many years together. They had participated in non-violent workshops together. They practiced and prepared. Just using the you can get everybody to show up at a certain moment, but then when the protest is broken up, nothing happens. It’s also true that the repressive regimes have more recently learned how to use the internet to undermine leaders and movements. Most of all, they now understand how to make people cynical. The form of propaganda that most modern authoritarians use - and I think the Russians really pioneered this - deploys sneering cynicism. Instead of praising the rulers, the regime propagandists mock the opposition movement leadership for being supposedly corrupt or sexually degenerate, with the goal of undermining any kind of idealism. JC: MAGA grew on the internet? AA: MAGA is a real grassroots movement. They had symbols, red hats, they showed up at rallies. But you’re right that the cynicism, the sarcasm and the distrust that the movement embodies came originally from the internet, and this is different. Fifty years ago, most European political parties had a social base in real organizations, in trade unions for Social Democrats, in church groups for Christian Democrats. As people stopped going to church and as the trade unions became smaller, the social base of these parties disappeared. Now people who wouldn’t have known one another in the past meet on the internet and create new movements, many of which don’t last. JC: Is history ending? Going in stale circles? AA: History never ends. In truth, human beings want contradictory things at the same time: order and freedom, stability and change. These things are never resolved, and when a society swings too far in one direction, people always push it the other way. But each time that happens, the result is different. Certainly it is true that we are now in a period when old philosophers and ideas from the 1930s are undergoing a revival. Carl Schmitt, who was a philosopher who was very influential on the Nazis, is back as an influence on both the far left and the far right, once again inspiring people to think that all politics has to be existential, that all politics is about defining and defeating enemies. In the US, some are also bringing back dominionism, the idea that we need a Christian and not a secular state. It’s also true that we are living through a more fundamental shift. The old left-right divide, which was mostly about the size of the state, is much less important now. Instead, we are arguing about more fundamental things: what are our rights, what protects our freedom. Or how much power do we want to give small elites, versus how much power to give ordinary people. In America a small group of very wealthy people now control information, because they control the social media platforms and AI, which means they determine what people will read and learn. Finding a way to preserve preserve zones of autonomy and independent thinking, this is going to be the main task for the next generation. JC: What is the one book that a person interested in Central Europe should read? AA: You could read my book “Iron Curtain: the Crushing of Eastern Europe” which tells the story of how the Soviet Union imposed its culture on the region. Or read Tim Snyder’s history of the region, “The Reconstruction of Nations: Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus 1569-1999.” And everyone should read “The Captive Mind” by Czesław Miłosz, which describes exactly the phenomenon we were talking about: why do people collaborate? I joined Scott Galloway and the brilliant Fiona Hill in a discussion about the wars in Ukraine and Iran, the future of global power, and what these conflicts reveal about America's role in the world. Scott told us that this was the 400th edition of his podcast, which is quite a number: My friend Francesco Chiamulera runs a brilliant series of literary events, Una Colline di Libri, A Hill of Books, in the Prosecco Hills, a region of vineyards and elegant hill towns in the Veneto, north of Venice. We did an event in Vittorio Veneto and also drove and biked around the countryside. Buy Autocracy Inc Buy Iron Curtain Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
FDA clears new computer-assisted device for removing clots in stroke patients
The Thunderbolt device from California-based Penumbra uses modulated aspiration to detect and remove blood clots. Back in January, Boston Scientific agreed to acquire Penumbra for approximately $14.5 billion.
Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, union agree to deal
Hershey Entertainment and Resorts and the Chocolate Workers union have reached a deal, averting a potential strike.
Can Trump get a good Iran deal? Here are the major pitfalls that lie ahead
There is newfound optimism about the Trump administration reaching an agreement with Iran. But getting here was likely the easier part; what comes next will be even harder.
Trump’s Too Busy with His UFC Birthday Party to Sign a Ceasefire Agreement with Iran
Luckily, Vice President J. Divan Vance isn’t on vacation this weekend, so he’ll reportedly fill in for the president on Sunday to sign the terms.
University of Minnesota expands student, workforce development through health and healthcare, enrollment and learning initiatives
The University of Minnesota Board of Regents today agreements with University of Minnesota Physicians and Fairview Health Services, approved a University-wide enrollment plan, and continued its focus on financial stewardship.
At hospital finance conference, a call to end the friction that’s keeping costs high
Hospital execs agree that affordability is a major issue. What to do about it is less clear.
At hospital finance conference, a call to end the friction that’s keeping costs high
Hospital execs agree that affordability is a major issue. What to do about it is less clear.
Workers reach tentative agreement with Hershey Entertainment & Resorts
HERSHEY, Pa. (WHTM) – Chocolate Workers Local Union No. 464 tells abc27 that they have a tentative agreement with Hershey Entertainment & Resorts to avoid a work stoppage. The agreement i…