Michael McFaul
@mcfaulmike
Professor of Political Science, Director of Freeman Spogli Institute & Hoover Senior Fellow all at Stanford University. U.S. Ambassador to Russia, 2012-2014.
In a country as large and diverse as ours, Democrats and Republicans should be broad coalitions that reflect regional differences—not ideological movements demanding conformity. Our democracy will be stronger for it.
Happy birthday @barackobama.bsky.social ! Honor of a lifetime to have been on your team!
Putin’s brutal war is a vanity project. He doesn’t care about Ukrainians, but he doesn't care about his own citizens either. This war ends when we strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield, tighten sanctions to starve Russia's war machine & force Moscow to negotiate on equal terms.
Heading to a bookstore this weekend? Support a non-fiction author! Buy a book—any book—and tell me which one you chose!
Zelenskyy claims Russia is sharing satellite imagery of U.S. military bases with Iran. Trump's response when asked about this? "I'll ask Putin." That's an embarrassing answer from the president of the United States.
"Макфол: Путін не здатен перемогти, а Трамп став більш прихильним до України." Читайте більше з мого інтерв’ю для Espreso / Slawa TV! espreso.tv/svit-makfol-...
One of the most significant aspects of Ukraine's drone revolution is the replacement of soldiers in traditional combat roles.
Fascinating conversation earlier today with Caterina Buchatskiy of the Snake Island Institute, one of Ukraine's leading military think tanks. Full video here: michaelmcfaul.substack.com/p/the-drone-...
Want to learn more about Ukrainian drones? Join me tomorrow (Friday) at 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET for a live conversation with Catarina Buchatskiy, analytics director at Kyiv-based Snake Island Institute. Visit McFaul's World on Substack for more details: michaelmcfaul.substack.com/p/this-frida...
It was a pleasure to spend the morning with the Fisher Family Summer Fellows at @stanfordcddrl.bsky.social discussing the ideas in Autocrats vs. Democrats. I enjoyed our discussion and look forward to more conversations in the days and weeks ahead!
Undermining trust in the justice and electoral systems, denigrating the media, targeting rivals. I’ve seen this playbook before in Putin’s Russia in the early 2000s. America’s democratic institutions may be stronger, but we should never take them—or our rights—for granted.
Communist China performed as well as it did over the last four decades not because it doubled down on state planning, but because it opened its economy and embraced market reforms
To our friends around the world: Trump is not America, and America is not Trump.
Regarding foreign policy, all U.S. presidents should aim to advance the security and economic interests of the American people. By nearly every metric, Trump's war with Iran has accomplished the opposite, and with no end in sight
Opening the Strait of Hormuz wasn't one of Trump's original war aims because it was already open before the war.
ICYMI, check out my conversation with Harry Litman on Iran, NATO and more: michaelmcfaul.substack.com/publish/post...
And I like Norwegians. They're hilarious, especially Erling Haaland. And great allies too!
"Now the United States is no longer the leader [of NATO], who can step up to do that?" Watch the full conversation with NATO expert James Goldgeier at McFaul's World: michaelmcfaul.substack.com/p/live-with-...
Should a country that kills athletes be allowed to participate in international athletic competitions? My vote is no.
We've become remarkably desensitized to Trump's rhetoric. Declaring the Iran ceasefire "over," threatening to end all trade with Spain, calling Japan an "Islamic Republic"—a few years ago, each would have been a major story. Now they barely register. Why?
Giving Ukraine a license to produce Patriots will be big if it happens. But Ukraine needs missile defense interceptors now, and can’t wait for the production of them in the future.
I celebrated the 4th of July in Stockholm with Svitlana Zalishchuk, the Ukrainian ambassador to Sweden, and other fantastic people doing what they can to support Ukraines fight for independence.
Посмотрите моё интервью с журналистом Константином Эггертом для DW. Поговорили об Украине, Трампе и многом другом. Полная версия интервью—по ссылке: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQfm...
Interested in U.S. foreign policy, Russia, Ukraine, China, democracy, and global politics? Join me at McFaul's World, where I publish regular essays and newsletters on the biggest international issues of the day. It's free to subscribe! michaelmcfaul.substack.com
After months of promises about ending Iran's nuclear program, missile development, support for terrorism, and regional aggression, what we have so far is a deal focused on one thing: reopening the Strait of Hormuz. A strait that was open before the war began.
