Brian Jenkins

Jan 3, 2025 | thehill.com | Brian Jenkins |Bruce R. Butterworth

Skip to content The tragic pickup truck ramming in New Orleans and the subsequent explosion of a Tesla Cybertruck in Las Vegas remind us that terrorist threats remain a deadly reality in the U.S. There are no indications yet that the two attacks were coordinated. More likely, they are coincidental, although that will not prevent linking them to advance political agendas or conspiracy theories. The coincidence contributes to greater public apprehension. In the coming days, we will learn more...

Aug 21, 2024 | newsbreak.com | Brian Jenkins

The American electorate goes to the polls to exercise its franchise this fall, as it has more than a hundred times since 1788. But not since 1968 — a tumultuous year marked by assassinations, division and widespread rioting — has the threat of political violence loomed as large as it does today. The attempted assassination of former President Trump is still fresh in America’s collective memory.

Aug 14, 2024 | thehill.com | Brian Jenkins

The recent prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia, which also involved prisoners from Germany, Slovenia and Belarus, evokes a trick shot in pool, where with one stroke of the cue, multiple balls spread across the table drop into different pockets. Western nations have collaborated before to bring back wrongfully detained nationals, but it is hard to recall a deal this complex. It involved 24 people, including wrongful detainees, convicted felons and dissidents.

Mar 29, 2024 | thehill.com | Brian Jenkins

For detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Mar. 29 will likely pass like the 364 days before it, just another line scratched into a metal wall. As his confinement in a Russian prison enters its second year, Gershkovich is among the latest high-profile victims of Russia’s cruel and calculated prisoner gamesmanship. Jailing foreign nationals is an increasingly common tool of Russia’s coercive diplomacy, and not just in Russia.

Mar 15, 2024 | thehill.com | Brian Jenkins

It is hardly a spoiler alert to say that Vladimir Putin will win Russia’s forthcoming presidential election. If it reveals nothing else, the 2024 election will again make clear that Putin runs the show. In the 2000 presidential election, he received 53 percent of the vote. In 2004, he got 72 percent. The Russian constitution at the time prohibited him from serving more than two consecutive terms, but Putin continued to call the shots as prime minister between 2008 and 2012.