Why Is Russia Threatening to Invade Ukraine?

Plus: Kirsten Dunst finally gets her due; how Steph Curry changed basketball; and the revolutionary writing of bell hooks. View in browser | Update your preferences Thursday, December 16, 2021 In today’s newsletter: • Kirsten Dunst finally gets her due • How Steph Curry changed basketball • The revolutionary writing of bell hooks Why Russia Is Threatening to Invade Ukraine Recent talks between Putin and Biden seem to have reduced tensions. Why was a new round of conflict a possibility in the first place? Has the danger really gone away? Photograph by Brendan Hoffman / Getty Ukraine seems to be key to Vladimir Putin not because he dreams of resurrecting the Soviet Union or enlarging the territory of modern-day Russia by force; rather, Ukraine presents an opportunity for Russia, once and for all, to reassert its geopolitical relevance. As Putin sees it, only the threat of war can reopen a conversation that, to many in the West, has long felt like settled history: the expansion of NATO eastward, the denial of a Russian veto on questions of regional security, and the underlying sense that Russia lost the Cold War. If Ukraine joins NATO, or is drawn into a de-facto military alliance with it, then Putin’s project has failed; if Ukraine is kept from doing so, Putin has fulfilled his historical role. —Joshua Yaffa, from “Why Russia Is Threatening to Invade Ukraine” Read the rest of story. Editor’s Picks Postscript The Revolutionary Writing of bell hooks hooks, who died this week, rewrote our understanding of Black feminism and womanhood, and gave a generation of readers a new way of looking at the world. By Hua Hsu 2021 in Review The Year in Climate A summer that really scared scientists. By Bill McKibben The Sporting Scene Steph Curry Redrew Basketball’s Map of Possibilities He has long been the spiritual champion of the three-point shot, and he has now hit more threes than anyone. By Vinson Cunningham Life on the Big Screen Persons of Interest Kirsten Dunst’s Feminine Urges For three decades, Dunst has been one of our preëminent performers—though critics have not always known what to do with her uncanny ability to channel conflicted womanhood and scrappy, girlish ennui. With “The Power of the Dog,” she might be finally getting her due. By Rachel Syme Culture Dept. Cultural Comment A Close Read of the Beatles in “Get Back” It’s a revelation how gentle the four bandmates are with one another, in the pained, semi-articulate way of families. By Adam Gopnik 2021 in Review The Escapist Sounds of 2021 In a challenging year, this was the best audio for creating a barrier between my brain and reality. By Carrie Battan The New Yorker Documentary The Amateur Miners Who Dig Through More Than Dirt The documentary short “The Diamond” shows everything that comes to the surface at the world’s only public diamond-bearing field. Film by Caitlyn Greene Text by Rachel Riederer From the Archive A Reporter at Large How the Pentagon Started Taking U.F.O.s Seriously For decades, flying saucers were a punch line. Then the U.S. government got over the taboo. By Gideon Lewis-Kraus Fun & Games Dept. Name Drop Play Today’s Quiz Can you guess the notable person in six clues or fewer? By Matt Jackson Daily Cartoon Thursday, December 16th By Zoe Si Daily Shouts Introducing New Travel Experiences from the T.S.A. Sign up for T.S.A. Postcheck, where we continue to keep tabs on you—in the way a sweet, caring friend would! By Sara K. Runnels Daily Shouts The Twelve Days of Christmas When You’re Newly Single “On the first day of Christmas, my ex returned to me / a sweater and my house keys.” By Anjali Chandrashekar P.S. The cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead was born on this day in 1901. For nearly all of her adult life, following the publication of her first book, “Coming of Age in Samoa,” Mead was an immensely influential popular figure, advising the government, writing a widely read magazine column, giving public lectures on the major issues of the day, and even appearing on “The Tonight Show.” Yet, as Louis Menand has written, Mead’s influence, and that of her fellow-anthropologists, has faded, even though “issues around race, gender, sexuality, and ‘otherness’ are still very much with us.” Today’s newsletter was edited by Ian Crouch. Thanks for reading. Let us know your thoughts about today’s edition. Plus, browse more newsletters and invite a friend to sign up for The Daily. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for The Daily from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.