Honestly with Bari Weiss Russia's War on Ukraine: A Roundtable
9 snips
Mar 3, 2022 
Niall Ferguson, a historian at the Hoover Institution, Walter Russell Mead, a Bard College professor and Wall Street Journal columnist, and Francis Fukuyama, a political scientist at Stanford, dive into the crisis in Ukraine. They discuss Putin's motivations for the invasion and the West's responses. The trio explores the sharp contrast between the leadership of Putin and Zelensky, the implications for NATO, and the complexities of energy politics. They ponder whether the current conflict marks the dawn of a new Cold War and assess America's role in defending democracy from tyranny.
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Putin's Tsarist Ambitions
- Vladimir Putin's historical idol is Peter the Great, not a Soviet figure.
- He sees Ukraine's independence as an anomaly and wants to restore a Tsarist-era sphere of influence.
Zelenskyy: An Unlikely Leader
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy's unusual path from comedian to president reflects Ukrainians' alienation from the political establishment.
- His presidency, marked by oligarchic influence and a split between civil society and Soviet-era structures, is being transformed by the crisis.
Biden's Miscalculations
- Niall Ferguson argues that the Biden administration projected weakness by slowing arms deliveries to Ukraine and lifting Nord Stream 2 sanctions.
- This signaled to Putin that an invasion would only face sanctions, not military opposition.
