No, the war was not about NATO. This and other myths of the war - a discussion with Dr. Branislav Slantchev

With so much disinformation about the war particularly at this moment, I felt it would be good to do a show on some of these lies. Although I was hoping we could delve into the many myths of this war, we ended up speaking primarily about the central myth of this war: the Russian lie that this is a defensive war in retaliation against the last 30 years of NATO expansion. Listen in to understand the numerous reasons why this is clearly a lie. I had the great pleasure speaking with Dr. Branislav Slantchev, a professor of Political Science at UC San Diego, who helped provide extensive evidence and quotes by Russian leaders themselves clearly setting the record straight and proving this is a war of Russian imperial aggression, not a defensive war against NATO. His Foreign Affairs article  - https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/obstacles-diplomacy-ukraine And I highly recommend you follow him on X at https://x.com/slantchev About the Guest Dr. Branislav Slantchev is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California San Diego. Slantchev teaches courses in international relations, national security, and game theory. To connect and message with Mark on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mcnamee-58950910 To learn more, visit: https://ubn.network/ Listen to more episodes on Mission Matters: https://missionmatters.com/author/Mark-McNamee/ If you found this episode valuable, follow the podcast and share it with someone who wants to better understand the war in Ukraine.