Lesia Dubenko - An Irreverent Look at the Useful Idiot Amplifying Narratives Friendly to the Kremlin

Lesia Dubenko is a political scientist and an Alumna of Lund University, with an Msc in European Affairs. She has eight years of experience in political and social journalism and has been published in the Financial Times, Politico Europe, New Eastern Europe, Atlantic Council, KP. In August 2018 she entered the Ukrainian NGO sector, and has been cooperating with different Ukrainian NGOs, including “Europe without Barriers”, “Internews Ukraine”, “European Pravda” and more.
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[@ahartify]

Ukraine was effectively 'neutral' when they voluntarily surrendered their nuclear weapons and other conventional weaponry in 1994, and look what happened.

[@jeffhicks8428]

a US coup in 2014 is what happened.

[@mduckernz]

@@jeffhicks8428 No it wasn’t. They definitely had a preference as to how it would go, but they gave effectively zero concrete/physical support. There was no way the US could somehow conjure into existence the determination of many thousands of Ukrainians to assemble in their capital and demand change. Even when abused by police - at the instruction of the then-President, who was a Russian puppet - they didn’t give up.

[@InnocentiusLacrimosa]

​@@jeffhicks8428hello jeff-IVAN, are you so ashamed and disgusted of your russian heritage that you pretend to be "jeff from the West"?

[@toby9999]

​@ozymandias5130 Not really. Too much is being made of what was really nothing much. There was no formalised structure in the way NATO was formalised, for instance. That said, Ukraine is being supported. Yes, more would be better, but you whine about no support, etc.... and don't forget, ruzzia broke it first.

[@toby9999]

​@@jeffhicks8428What coup?

[@ahartify]

Samuel Charap blocked me on Twitter, so I know I must have said something right. I felt quite honoured, I have to say.

[@mikekolyshkin3931]

These useful idiots are not idiots. They are businessmen: telling lies for money is an opulent business for people with adaptive conscience. Lesia's speech is so rational and insightful! We need more of her, Jonathan!

[@nerdyali4154]

I disagree. I think they are mostly adherents to Cold war era ideas of US national interest. They know the truth but place what they perceive as US interest over the moral dimension.

[@CynthiaBlair]

As someone who had no preconceived idea of Russia (except the sneaky / murder / KGB part) or Ukraine, in 2022- I'd say you can't use the Western cultural bias here. You have to look at the ACTIONS of Russia, and logically the Russian propaganda makes NO SENSE, it doesn't correspond with their actions. In 2022 I felt I needed to learn about Ukraine and the historical background. I found Professor Tim Snyder's Yale course online (free) which I would recommend. I do love Fiona Hill and many others, their many lectures and interviews are fascinating but you can't help realize that Putin and the Russian Regime is built on lies, distortion and some weird sense of victimhood. Historically they have broken every agreement with Ukraine. Every one.

[@wendyandrew3707]

Watching BBC old documentary, some Russians seemed to go straight from communism into criminality and these criminals be ame the rich elite after ransacking their country. In the UK, we have built up respect for honesty that we all take for granted, then assume everyone else is the same. We are the odd ones out really. Lying is par for the course for many different cultures.

[@JAllenKaiser]

Oh, wow. Just looked up the Valdai Club. John Mearsheimer admits in the forward to his 2023 book "How States Think" that he receives “financial support” from Valdai. The club also gave him the 2019 Best Book Award for "The Great Delusion.” So revealing.

[@SiliconCurtain]

It is very pertinent to what we hear him saying now!

[@CONTACTLIGHTTOMMY]

Mearsheimer is a Useful Idiot. Nothing more, nothing less.

[@skippy9659]

Oh interesting information here.

[@JAllenKaiser]

@@SiliconCurtain huge thank you to you and Lesia for bringing this to light for many of us. It’s shocking to me how openly blatant and deep this collusion is between the Putin Regime and western-facing foreign policy / international relations academics to spread pro-Kremlin propaganda in the democratic West, yet in the past 2+ years of closely following the topic, I’ve never even heard of Valdai until this video. The Kremlin propaganda machine has gotten vastly more sophisticated and pernicious than it was under Soviet communism, when most of America was acutely aware of its risks. Now it’s like huge segments of our institutions turn to shills on the Kremlin payroll to form our opinions and policy frameworks regarding the same regime lining their pockets. It’s madness …and this aspect of it isn’t even clandestine!

[@richardfinlayson1524]

Yeah that's quite interesting , possibly not surprising though.

[@dwarftomatoproject]

The whole movement towards appeasement seems more like enablement to me, permission to commit crimes without consequences!

[@uribensh]

Glory to Ukraine ! Thanks you both !!

[@thomaslytje8656]

That woman seems a lot more intelligent and knowledgeable than anyone I have heard on KZbin for a while! Good choice to have her on the channel!

[@lesiadubenko2773]

I agree with you wholeheartedly

[@ozymandias5130]

🤣🤣🤣

[@DARDA360]

@@lesiadubenko2773 God bless you!

[@dianetourje1359]

I'm writing to my senator about this troll! I've been waiting for someone to tell me his name because I've known about his influence over Sullivan for some time

[@skippy9659]

I think that’s a great idea. There’s a FP yt video up w him and Fiona Hill. She doesn’t like what he’s saying. She knows!

[@michaelrowsell1160]

Anyone who supports Russia ,and has access to all the international current affairs and media ,cannot be considered a moral person .

[@janneyovertheocean9558]

It’s a great pleasure to discover your program and also the articulate and intelligent guest Ms. Lesia Dubenko.

[@djparn007]

Thank you, Jonathan. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦

[@ahartify]

Charap and Mearsheimer are the 'it's all very well in practice, but what about the theory?' kind of academics. They want to bend reality and the facts to conform to a particular theory.

[@davidwright5094]

What's bizarre is to attach the label "realism" to the wishful thinking that: reality _surely ought_ to conform to my mental abstraction.

[@nerdyali4154]

@@davidwright5094 It's not really wishful thinking and it is realistic if you value strategic benefit over morality. He would have had the US collaborating to neutralise China, which would have satisfied Putin's ego and soothed his hurt feefees, but I don't think that is an option anymore.

[@markbrzezinski8889]

Totally agree with every word Lesia has expressed.

[@Whangareitaiji3138]

Well, I read a couple of Charap's articles. I see he completely ignores previous historical breaches of agreements. And doesn't suggest anything about the importance of national sovereignty. In other words he thinks Ukraine needs to surrender. And the international community should pretend that the rule of law still exists.

[@kabardinka1]

Thank you for calling out Charap.

[@mikekolyshkin3931]

I like the term 'vatnalyst' she coined. Thank you, Jonathan, for this conversation with brilliant Lesia. ❤🇺🇦

[@DarkestAlice]

Thank you, Jonathan and Lesia Dubenko, for calling those fake "experts" out. 🇺🇦 Перемоги і миру всім українцям! 🇺🇦

[@menuxpressions9128]

Always amazed at how Ukrainians speak with such eloquence and articulation in English even though it’s their second or third language.

[@max_skim-pontoon-cough]

Incredible that the aborigines can speak our language ❤❤😂

[@mduckernz]

@@max_skim-pontoon-coughI really don’t think that’s what’s being said here. You’re being overly cynical here - and I am normally inclined to cynicism. The thing that is being emphasised here is the sophistication, not “merely” the capability. I agree with them - the sophistication can often exceed that of native speakers

[@donotmislead]

Q: Ukrainians speak with such eloquence... A: Ukrainians are bilingual, speaking Ukrainian and Muscovite by default. Western Ukrainians also speak Hungarian and Polish, and all Ukrainians understand all Slověnic languages, including Old Church Slověnic, so they can read books and listen news in about twenty of them, making English twenty first.

[@donotmislead]

Q: Incredible that the aborigines can speak our language... A: English is not your language, in fact you are the aborigines subjugated by Germanic invaders and French dynasts who forced you to speak it as a pidgin.

[@tamarasidlartchouk3138]

@@donotmislead 👍👏👏

[@johncromwell2529]

Thanks for the great interviews Jonathon!🙏🇺🇦👏👍

[@skippy9659]

Foreign Policy is a very right wing media source. Rand is a far right organization too. I trust Fiona Hill. She was our diplomat in Ukraine for many many years, and she knows what she’s actually talking about.

[@mvjh2277]

Anne Applebaum is good,too.

[@alacazaba]

Foreign Policy is not right, far from it. In fact it has only ever endorsed one candidate for president, and that was Hilary Clinton. It's establishment, for sure, but if anything, it's maybe establishment center left. And you need to understand that Russian propaganda is not a right or left issue, it affects both political factions. It's a reason why it's pernicious, and symptomatic of its effectiveness. It is part of a strategy to use propaganda to help exact 'reflexive control'

[@louisgiokas2206]

It was Foreign Affairs magazine. That is a different publication. I know of Foreign Policy magazine but have not really followed it. I have read Foreign Affairs magazine for a long time and don't perceive it as right wing.

[@nerdyali4154]

The Rand corporation has been warning about Russian disinfo for a while.

[@ruthwolfer4154]

It's really ridiculous & dangerous too to invite such slippery figurs to white house !

[@mitchellgreene867]

Great job, keep pushing the narrative. Lesia is a beautiful lady, and soul. Slava Ukraine!🇺🇦 ❤

[@moinyp]

@18:50 I absolutely agree. It’s not about their true understanding of the situation. It’s instead all about career and income. Well said! 👍

[@Donovanwashere]

🇺🇦🙏🇬🇪💪🇺🇸

[@migproductions4045]

Simply SUBURB Jonathan! 😆xxx What amazes me is the combination of a man so well read and articulate he can compliment the knowledge of the person he interviews but with the humility to NEVER interrupt his guest! Astonishing talent, intellect and technique! What a fine man you are and how enriched by you we are! In a word inspirational..I can add nothing to this save to say I listen with rapped attention to every last word of this GOLD! 😀xxx

[@evansiegel1732]

I don't know if Jon is suburban or not. He is, however, superb.

[@agustinussiahaan6669]

Thank you, Jonathan. I didn't read that Samuel's. But it's not surprising. Tons of alikes around. Slava Ukraine. Support from Indonesia.

[@PandemoniumMeltDown]

Thank you indeed to you both, what a lovely interview this was!

[@SL-sd3sg]

💙💛🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻🇬🇧

[@mikekolyshkin3931]

"It's a personal opinion disguised as science" - Lesia ruthlessly nailed academia. ❤

[@harmoniacaotica]

For those that don't know, and because I find it very, very interesting that he is still in the member list... António Guterres, Secretary General for the UN is a member of club valdai! There's also a couple of usual commentators in portuguese TV that are members of the club.

[@chuckkottke]

Thank you Lesia and Johnathan, you have enlightened me to a great extent. So this may explain why Jake Sullivan and hence President Biden have been so hesitant in sending aid even when they had lend-lease. Their tune is changing, thank God, but the delays have been so costly, and behind it all may have been Samuel Charap and his vatnik apparatchik.

[@terryhand]

Good to see Lesia back on Silicon Curtain.

[@georgine321]

A grey psychopath !! Love it.

[@carolwilliams8511]

There are now many names for the kremlin goblin. 😊

[@TotalRookie_LV]

@@carolwilliams8511 And none of them flattering. 😆 Even Putin's supposed nicknames back in KGB era were Окурок ( a cigarette butt, leftover part, what Brits call a fag) and Моль (a clothes moth).

[@oscarmora4602]

Wow!!!

[@marcvangastel2157]

Never heard of Charap until now, will keep it so.

[@Martin-mc6hr]

Thank you Jonathon and Lesia. 🇺🇦🇦🇺

[@TeeganDuckworth-ko6vs]

Great conversation on a serious topic…❤❤❤ thank you both so very much!

[@ulfsoderberg2581]

She is an excellent analyst

[@shaiaheyes2c41]

There's many Walter Duranty's in this world.

[@tamarasidlartchouk3138]

Vatnalist-👏👏👏

[@lesiadubenko2773]

AhHhha I’ll write a short substack post on this later

[@jeffhicks8428]

@@lesiadubenko2773 Lose some weight and take some English courses first. Also I'd pay $1000 USD to have you take an IQ test and would bet $10,000 the score will not exceed 85.

[@surelyyoujokemeinfailure7531]

Awesome interview. Hearing the useful idiots described so clearly brought to mind one I hadn't thought of in awhile, the not-so-good-fiction author and cranky blogger James Howard Kunstler, whose blog is Clusterf*ck Nation. At some point in the past (not sure when) he fell in line with what Putin would like to have said here in America. Sad.

[@riversandrds]

Too often the apologists and the purveyors of weak kneed justice are ready to cleanse the crime and sully the victim.

[@noelgrace99]

Always like your interviews

[@SuperbStevieG]

Throughly enjoyed this interview. And i love Lesia’s colloquial English.

[@sherrillwhately7586]

Historian Stephen Kotkin was giving Sam Charab high praise just a few days ago on Foreign Affairs channel. That’s weird because Stephen Kotkin is the one who convinced me that the idea of NATO expansion was not a tenable argument 2 years ago during a Lex Fridman interview, where he emphasized the voluntary nature of the organization. I did notice Stephen Kotkin’s views had shifted in a weird direction that I didn’t like after that. Maybe he got influenced by Sam Charab 🤔? Kotkin was praising escalation management and how the administration wanted a negotiated peace and the ceding of Crimea after the Kherson offensive in the Winter of 2022, while Ben Hodges was advocating for far more assistance to push ahead to take Crimea at that point in time and even earlier.

[@briansomogie]

Benji Hodges only knows one complex adjective. That adjective is: "untenable". When you listen to him in any of the myriad videos he has appeared in he can only repeat the ONLY word he learned from serving 20 years in the Army. Someone referred to him as a "clown" 🤡, and when his only point is to make Crimea - say it with me "untenable", it doesn't take very long to predict what he is going to say... Try it. Watch Benji Hodges and count the number of times he repeats the same thing in every video. Why the U.K. media offers air time to this "clown" as he was referred to by someone else is a complete mystery.... By the way I support Ukraine. Slava Ukraini! 🇺🇦🇺🇲🇨🇦🇳🇿🇦🇺🇬🇧🇮🇹🇧🇪🇩🇪🇪🇪🇯🇵🇳🇱🇫🇮🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇵🇱🇱🇹🇲🇩 and all of the other unlisted allies in this struggle against tyranny and terrorism.

[@DARDA360]

Kotkin is an eloquent hack. Great delivery, no substance. We learned more from our parents and grandparents about Stalin than his 3 volumes of Stalin's bio can deliver. He will take your money with a smile.

[@sergiystoyan899]

Kotkin is in deep irrational love with ruzzia. If you built all your carrier on the stuff, it is almost impossible to speak against it. Yes, Stalin was a bandit but still what a genius he was! Yes, ruzzia does wrong, but still what a brilliant culture! Yes, they have been stealing from other nations but still they are struggling to materialize their great destiny (which nobody knows what it is including ruzzians)! That's Kotkin. My guess is that when writing his Stalin bio he inevitably has gotten specific relations in ruzzia.

[@jeremygreenwood1021]

The whole thing beats me. I saw John Simpson last night, who has great gravitas, highlighting Russian advances in the front and suggesting Ukraine should negotiate while it is ahead.

[@stephenhill545]

Russia doesnt keep to the agreements. 18,000 Ukranian troops died during the Minsk "ceasefire".

[@LanaGrey-db9qp]

Slava Ukraini 💙💛

[@keithdunwoody1302]

It's all academic at this point. 😂 Certain types look at Ukraine as if no one lives there, is just real estate. Have the see so-called academics no idea about the historical context and Ukraine's centuries long struggles for freedom from RuZZia imperialism? Heard of holodomor?

[@hubertussuppenstiefel5590]

Great interview!

[@louisnaidu9140]

Thanks for another interesting interview

[@BasilBadger]

Thank you for yet a great interview.

[@brittadueandersen2519]

I recently heard Stephen Kotkin talk about how now was the time to talk about peace ( just what Putin loves). It is up to Ukraine to determine the timing and content of this conversation. Those of us who want the best for Ukraine must not do Putin's bidding and undermine Ukraine's position.

[@krastsjanis]

Nice to hear this interview.

[@Andres_1970]

Congrats to both, again. Calling a Spade a Spade, as President Zelensky often says, should be the new normal, not an outcast´s or similar attitude.

[@Whatshisname346]

The main issue is that the field of post-Soviet and Eastern European studies is ripe for Russian interference. From personal experience, I’ve seen that it’s a field full of Soviet nostalgia, Russian imperial apologia and whataboutism. A friend of mine once submitted a theses to their supervisor (an ‘expert’ in post-Soviet studies) in the early 2000s which posited the idea that Russian interference in its near abroad particularly the Caucasus region was a continuation of Russian imperialism. It was a well argued idea which went against the accepted narrative that this person believed in who had spent many a year in various paid conferences in Russia, so of course it was rejected until it was ‘corrected’ to show that the activities US NGOs were somehow comparable to taking over parts of other countries. Needless to say this turned my colleague against further academic study in the field. 6 months after its completion Russia invaded Georgia. So when we look at ‘academics’ like this, it’s important to remember that an entire well-funded ecosystem exists around this field of study.

[@jberkeley1195]

Thanks for this interview Jonathan 👍 your guest just confirmed that putin is bat sh*t crazy 😳 slava ukraini 🔱💪🇺🇦🇬🇧🇺🇸✌️

[@TheKronprinsen]

Thank you for a really good intervju.

[@dss2mtm]

Lesia should take up complaints of 'mumbo jumbo' and 'the standard of education' with the University of Oxford. Their PhDs and MPhils are a terrible standard of education.

[@valdud9745]

Good. Thanks

[@Calligraphybooster]

We must avoid calling useful idiots idiots for too long. Some may wear this label for some time as an excuse for their sorry state of mind, but others willfully spout lies, and don’t give a damn about consequences. They must be fought and held accountable, not pampered.

[@nerdyali4154]

There's a youtube channel called Useful Idiots who push Russian BS. I think there is some crossover between them and the Grayzone sc*mbags.

[@stevebeer3324]

Just using the Kremlin terminology for them. I suppose you could call them Traitorous- weasels- with- the- morals- of- a -rattlesnake-who- -lie-- for- money -as-latter-day-Lord-Hawhaws ,,but it's not as catchy.

[@1964corvair1]

I agrre with Lesia's academia comments. Great discussion!

[@BertBruins-ri9dv]

A very useful and necessary discussion. I compare people like Carlson and others with the useful idiots and worse from the 1930s.

[@terryhand]

Or certain sections of of the British left at the time who were praising Stalin and extolling the vitues of the Soviet Union.

[@chuckkottke]

Henry Kissinger was completely obsolete from the very start of his career! He majored in major blunders but sounded the part of "the expert" so a lot of powerful people believed him. If Samuel Charap is following in his footsteps, he's walking backwards. 👣

[@Ultra-Violet]

What a huggable guest 💜

[@johnhigson6206]

And that is most of the story. Be sure to examine what may lurk behind the Silicon Curtain

[@Ultra-Violet]

@@johnhigson6206 one of the best channels around 👍🏻

[@garywalls5181]

I would say perhaps they are listening to him to try to understand the extreme other side.Some value can be gleaned from understanding your enemy.

[@msvergara]

best5 interviews about Ukraine

[@user-fz7zt6cw6f]

Germany negotiated with Russia on 1939. Look at the results of that fiasco! Germany invaded Poland from the east and Russia from the west in 1939 then all hell let loose. Europe and Britain paid the price as well. Americans didn't want involvement in fighting but ended up with another problem. They ended up joining in. This time the fighting should be clear and precise with great awareness of what could come down the line if Russia isn't stopped.

[@pault.3524]

It took me a while. This Samuel is this the guy from the Rand Cooperation? Samuel Absher?

[@SiliconCurtain]

Not sure if he’s also called Absher, I know him as Charap

[@skippy9659]

Charap

[@lesiadubenko2773]

Samuel schmuck

[@pault.3524]

@@SiliconCurtain Ok. It's Charap

[@samplumbe3288]

Glad I never heard of samuel

[@JYRIVIRMA]

Great info, but please mr. Silicon Curtain ask yr guests to find prooer mics, instead of using only the laptop's own mice.

[@TotalRookie_LV]

16:39 - since Lesia loves such portmanteaus, allow me to present another one for Putin - "лузерпатор" = лузер + узурпатор, which in English would be something like "losurper" = loser + usurper.

[@thor9563]

While on a tour of East Berlin as part of a diplomatic team in 1973 I believe I caught a whiff of Putin. He is known to sh*t his pants occasionally!

[@WalterBurton]

👍👍👍

[@hereiam1963]

Charap & Radchenko article was published in Foreign Affairs, not Foreign Policy

[@anniecarola]

👌

[@neilclay5835]

Ugh Charap 🤮

[@arthurcphelps]

Thanks!

[@tomaszcodasz]

One of them (Michał Rachoń) you have interviewed

[@Virgilvega-kw9nm]

I want Ukraine to win. I agree with what Lesia has said about that “Ukraine Expert” Samuel Charp” He spent his whole careeer being “an Apologist for the USSR and now FSB ruled Russia. What is the Moldive club. And If he went to Kiev before 1991, doesn’t that mean he is pro --> Russian Communist Party and now the cu😊rent rulers of Russia? Spacebo

[@CynthiaBlair]

So how do we counter this kind of "educated foreign analyst/vatnik" if they have the ear of the White House? We've seen a great deal of Kremlinspeak on the floor of Congress, and it has held up the $60bil aid bill dramatically, unfortunately. More Ukrainians died because of opinions expressed by Charap, etc, if indeed his articles or meetings helped cause the aid bill to stall. Any ideas on what we, as regular citizens, can do? Great interview, Jonathan and Lesia, thank you!

[@nerdyali4154]

I doubt he influences the MAGA crowd. the likes of Vance are longstanding Ukraine-haters. The damage people like him have done is the persistent policy of "escalation management" followed by the Biden admin.

[@vvaldez0221]

I do not understand, what is there to negotiate? Ukraine is a free country; they are free to join wherever alliance they want to. Do Ukraine attack or invade Russia? You are in the right path but remember, Russia invaded Ukraine, occupier Crimea and Donbas without provocation and in violation of international laws. What expects next?

[@petehowett2854]

Are You a fan of history,Sir. Do You know the exact location of Ukraine,when discussing the security of both Russia and,Ukraine. Do You know the I importance of Ukraine geographically,militarily and economically to Russia? In 1962 the sovereign state of Cuba,asked the Soviet Union to install missiles within her natural borders. This,prompted the US to object,citing that the missiles were perceived as a threat to its' internal security.All missiles were dismantled and removed. Do Cuba and the US,share common borders? Do Russia and Ukraine,share common borders? It is true to say that its' the Inaniable right to do as it pleases within her natural borders. It is however equally true to say,that such an act,could be perceived as AGGRESSION. In conclusion,Do You agree with the US appraisal of its' internal security,threat Should the answer be therefore,YES,then WHY WASN'T THE SAME UNDERSTANDING EXTENDED TO RUSSIA? Should the answer be NO, THEN WHY WASN'T THE USSR,PERMITTED TO COMPLETE,ITS' MISSION?

[@terryhand]

@@petehowett2854 What happenned in 1962 at the height of the Cold War is not comparable to Ukraine in 2014. But even if it was, your argument makes no sense. Following your logic it would be permissable for Russia to invade any neighbouring country whose alliances did not suit the Kremlin's agenda. Who would be next: the Baltic States, Finland... Whataboutism is basically a non argument. I don't care what the the US did 60 years ago.

[@AIAudiobooks411]

@@petehowett2854 apples and oranges. Cuba is an island, and hosting nuclear weopons was never on the table for ukraine, especially after they gave them away in 1994!

[@ReadEldred]

Lesia 4 President

[@atfreema]

Who does one meet at Valdai, only other academics? Is that credible? Has anyone ever asked Charap, or others, if they've ever been approached by an FSB or GRU agent at Valdai?

[@peterhumphrys]

okay Stephen Cohen and John Mearsheimer, two academics from major US universities, Princeton and Chicago respectively, got plenty of coverage for their views that ring pretty much pro-Kremlin in terms of not upsetting the status quo of great powers and their spheres of influence which woulld not be worth the risks of nuclear war.

[@SiliconCurtain]

All previously members of the Valdai Club.

[@zetristan4525]

I think you've misunderstood them and mistaken analysis for motive. Jonathan would never invite Mearsheimer on, to debunk him, because the only thing that succeeds is ad hominem by association. The tragedy is getting so many Ukrainians killed and more of their land lost🇺🇦 (Mearsheimer argued in the early '90s that Ukraine should keep its nuclear weapons to ensure its protection from future Russian governments.)

[@symbionese2348]

@@zetristan4525 You have come the closest of anyone to explaining Mearsheimer to me. Having listened to him on KZbin recordings several times, he seemed to be a soft-headed academic speaking out his fantasies. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and think of him as a tunnel-vision professor making an analysis of the situation as he sees it. I still think he is irrelevant to reality, but at least now I have some idea why.

[@zetristan4525]

@@symbionese2348 There's a big propaganda war from both sides, Pravda vs Pravda, so each treats the other's insights with no respect, as if insane. You should view Mearsheimer's arguments critically, but he is anything but soft-headed, and looks from all sides' perspectives. Potentially symbionizing?🤗 He may also help you see what broke my heart, that the US MIC has never worked for Ukrainian victory: you can see by all the delays in supply that the manipulation game is far more cynical than this. Sacrificing Ukrainian lives💔, our fellow human beings. You can use USMC Capt Matthew Hoh's online article _A War Long Wanted_ as a truthful bridge.

[@symbionese2348]

@@zetristan4525 Thank you for your response. My understanding is that the military-industrial complex (I assume that is what you mean by MIC) has stood ready to provide ample war materiel to Ukraine since before the invasion in 2022, but the industrial part of it is in business, not charity. The impediment to U.S. military assistance to Ukraine was the Speaker of the House, who refused to let the appropriations bill come forward which would pay for replacement materiel and allow the old inventory to be shipped to Ukraine. I will look for Capt. Hoh's article to learn another perspective.

[@johng.roberts408]

Open dialogue is important. However, this has reinforced my doubts about Jake Sullivan - a russian wolf in sheep's clothing?

[@Whatshisname346]

I’m very surprised Meduza gave the authors a platform last week on their podcast to push this type of Russian imperialist apologia. Just goes to show that Russian ‘opposition’ media still has a long way to go.

[@mikeparaska2984]

Let's start referring to the Kremlin apologists who think negotiations with Putin are currently possible as the "give Sauron back his ring" brigade.

[@petehowett2854]

I'd say that FIRST, You educate YOURSELF as to the current affairs.Second,Istanbul April 2022,an agreement was reached and initialed,waiting for ratification from respective leaders.Mr.Davyd Arakhamia,the lead Ukranian negotiator,has admitted as much.NOW,there will be no negotiations.There will however be A USS MISSOURI, incident.

[@terryhand]

Two days ago the BBC actually gave airtime to Solovyov, speaking in English presumably to a journalist, with only the most perfunctory explanation of who Solovyov is. Bearing in mind that only a tiny minority of people in the UK have ever watched the grotesque spectacle of Russian TV and know what he represents, why would the BBC do that? Is it just poor journalism?

[@slimski]

Where was that?

[@terryhand]

​@@slimski It was on Radio 4 news. I can't give you the actual time and date. Admittedly it was a short statement, but I would still question why.

[@nerdyali4154]

@@terryhand Same reason they did the "we'll never really know the truth" thing after the dam explosion. Must be "fair and balanced, you know".

[@barryoverson4988]

i click the like button when i watch videos for free and subscribe if i regularly watch and throw in a comment thanks for your work"

[@srve1149]

What did he write? this Samuel guy.

[@richardfinlayson1524]

Thanks for enlightening us, this was very interesting and useful info. Good on you guys,thanks again

[@VM-hl8ms]

surfing on the benefit of the doubt, that's what it is.

[@timmommens901]

🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦✌✌🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

[@chrisrosenkreuz23]

It saddens me that so many people try to engage with Kremlin tools like their intention were ever logical discourse. Addressing illogical arguments only feeds the trolls, this was made clear from day one. Stop engaging. Put them to respect.

[@evansiegel1732]

As a newbe, the two of you didn't score any points with me telling me specifically NOT to read the subject's work. I'm very pro-Ukraine and I have an upfront and personal acquaintance with modern academic's vacuous jargon. But the interviewee's unembarrassed statement that she didn't read the subject's writings was just wrong. No one would write a debunking of Stalin without a scrupulous study of Stalin's writings and supporting material. This was a real disappointment.

[@SiliconCurtain]

I’m making a video where I break down the article in detail. I actually did read it…

[@philippage60]

Her comment was clearly based on a lot of prior knowledge about that person. I don't need to listen to all of Peskov's press releases to know that he lies in every single one. I don't need to know any more about Tucker Carlson or Elon Musk. They have made their positions very clear. I have no interest in reading anything written by an apologist of genocide and I actually appreciated the warning.

[@no8637]

Hey

[@slimski]

Hi Jonathan. I think if you’re going to discuss an article and ‘dissect’ it as you said it would be a good idea to read through it and point out how it’s wrong or misleading, and to do so with someone who’s actually read it and not someone who refuses to even do so I mean I don’t even disagree with the opinions here, but this article for instance was mentioned positively by Stephen Kotkin in a recent video, and if anyone knows his shit it’s Kotkin

[@thechuxs1]

i do not agree to remove a book from amazon ,why does Lesia not tell us what parts off the book is lies and nonsense ,then people learn something out of it. to win the argument surely censorship is not the answer ever !!

[@bobjohnbowles]

Probably because the premise of the entire book is flawed, which makes it a waste of peoples' time and energy bothering to read it.

[@thechuxs1]

@@bobjohnbowles just not a lover of illiberalism in any form .

[@mikefallwell1301]

You don't have to tell us we know who you love

[@lesiadubenko2773]

Well because the book is shit, but sure let Amazon sell it

[@thechuxs1]

@@mikefallwell1301 you could not be more wrong ,so you know my politics from 2 posts .your a smart guy .

[@GMT_400]

Most political science degree are just vanity degrees. But not this one. She seems like a smart lady.