Has America Abandoned Ukraine? With Michael McFaul

Has America abandoned Ukraine? Hello, I'm head of programming and host Connor Boyle, and welcome to Intelligence Square, the podcast about ideas that matter. In each episode, we speak to some of the world's most interesting thinkers, not simply about what they've written or created, but about the ideas that drive their work and why they matter now. In this episode, I'm speaking to Michael McFool. Academic and diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, and is now a professor at Stanford University. He's the author of books including The Excellent From Cold War to Hot Peace, an American ambassador in Putin's Russia, and most recently Audocrats versus Democrats, China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.

Today we're going to be exploring the idea of whether America in twenty twenty six Still aspires to uphold democracy around the world. Whether Trump has irreparably damaged American leadership. And what his increasingly pro Putin's stance means for the future of Ukraine. Master McFool, welcome to Intelligence Squared.

Thanks for having me. So in recent days, we've seen obviously Trump escalate his pro Putin statements. Uh, we've seen this diesel deal, we've seen this You know, quote frankly. Russia has been fine on Ukraine. Just to start things off, what has been your emotional reaction or your feeling hearing the president side so clearly?

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