From Munich to Mar-a-Lago: Is Trump Appeasing Putin in Ukraine?
Lots of headlines today about "peace" negotiations in Ukraine. But does Putin really want to end the war — and is Trump able and willing to broker a real peace? According to the longtime Russia watcher Jim Goldgeier, Putin isn't interested in ending the war on anything other than complete Russian control over Ukraine. Putin, Goldgeier bleakly concludes, "just doesn't believe Ukraine should be an independent country." So if this is true, what should Trump do? Is sitting down with Putin a classic case study in appeasing tyranny? Is the real "civilizational erasure" happening in Washington rather than Brussels? And will historians one day memorialize this shabby chapter in American foreign policy as "From Munich to Mar-a-Lago"?
Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
Episode 2236: Stephen Riggio on the greatest Italian novel you've never heard of
Episode 2235: Peter Osnos on LBJ & McNamara - the Vietnam Partnership Bound to Fail
Episode 2234: Terrence Sejnowski asks whether our brains and AI are converging
Episode 2233: More than a Tool: How AI is becoming an independent actor in our world
Episode 2232: Mark Galeotti on whether Putin is a prisoner or a master of history
Episode 2231: Bill Adair on the Epidemic of Political Lying, why Republicans do it more, and how it could destroy American democracy
Episode 2230: Seth Godin on why we are all hard-wired for hope
Episode 2229: Robert Skidelsky worries about the Human Condition in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Episode 2228: Bethanne Patrick on Al Pacino, the Queen, Bob Woodward and Ketanji Brown Jackson
Episode 2227: Allie Funk on how to Build Online Trust
Episode 2226: Why the Economics of our AI Age might be unlike all previous Tech Revolutions
Episode 2225: Katherine Epstein on how American Historians are Killing History
Episode 2224: Celeste Marcus on why the humanism of Agnieszka Holland's movies remain so relevant in our Trumpian age