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

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  • čas přidán 3. 06. 2024
  • 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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Komentáře • 298

  • @ahartify
    @ahartify Před 26 dny +68

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

    • @jeffhicks8428
      @jeffhicks8428 Před 26 dny +1

      a US coup in 2014 is what happened.

    • @mduckernz
      @mduckernz Před 26 dny

      @@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
      @InnocentiusLacrimosa Před 26 dny

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

    • @toby9999
      @toby9999 Před 26 dny +5

      ​@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
      @toby9999 Před 26 dny +20

      ​@@jeffhicks8428What coup?

  • @ahartify
    @ahartify Před 26 dny +52

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

    • @18_rabbit
      @18_rabbit Před 8 dny

      would love to know what u tweeted to him?

    • @ahartify
      @ahartify Před 8 dny

      @@18_rabbit I was questioning him on his claims as a celebrated 'peacemaker' at UN and NSC conventions, when others there said he wasn't and was often hardly in attendance. He said he was also a frequent attendee at Putin's Valdai think-tanks. He has been in contact with Jake Sullivan, of all people, although I can't imagine what he has been telling Jake.

  • @mikekolyshkin3931
    @mikekolyshkin3931 Před 26 dny +20

    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
      @nerdyali4154 Před 25 dny

      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.

    • @dronedelia23
      @dronedelia23 Před 5 hodinami

      Agreed

  • @JAllenKaiser
    @JAllenKaiser Před 26 dny +80

    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
      @SiliconCurtain  Před 26 dny +22

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

    • @CONTACTLIGHTTOMMY
      @CONTACTLIGHTTOMMY Před 26 dny +1

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

    • @skippy9659
      @skippy9659 Před 26 dny +8

      Oh interesting information here.

    • @JAllenKaiser
      @JAllenKaiser Před 26 dny

      @@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
      @richardfinlayson1524 Před 25 dny

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

  • @CynthiaBlair
    @CynthiaBlair Před 26 dny +46

    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
      @wendyandrew3707 Před 25 dny

      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.

  • @thomaslytje8656
    @thomaslytje8656 Před 26 dny +39

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

  • @dianetourje1359
    @dianetourje1359 Před 26 dny +47

    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
      @skippy9659 Před 26 dny +4

      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!

  • @dwarftomatoproject
    @dwarftomatoproject Před 26 dny +28

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

  • @uribensh
    @uribensh Před 25 dny +5

    Glory to Ukraine ! Thanks you both !!

  • @markbrzezinski8889
    @markbrzezinski8889 Před 26 dny +46

    Totally agree with every word Lesia has expressed.

  • @kabardinka1
    @kabardinka1 Před 26 dny +34

    Thank you for calling out Charap.

  • @djparn007
    @djparn007 Před 26 dny +43

    Thank you, Jonathan. Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦

  • @ahartify
    @ahartify Před 26 dny +24

    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
      @davidwright5094 Před 26 dny +2

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

    • @nerdyali4154
      @nerdyali4154 Před 25 dny

      @@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.

    • @18_rabbit
      @18_rabbit Před 8 dny

      @@nerdyali4154 preposterous that the US would ever have worked with Ru to neutrlise china. Ru has always wanted and needed China, even if not healthy or good for Ru in the long run, like it won't be!

  • @Whangareitaiji3138
    @Whangareitaiji3138 Před 26 dny +18

    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.

  • @janneyovertheocean9558
    @janneyovertheocean9558 Před 26 dny +9

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

  • @michaelrowsell1160
    @michaelrowsell1160 Před 26 dny +9

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

    • @lachlanbell8390
      @lachlanbell8390 Před 10 dny

      You mean to say _"all the _*_institutional_*_ current affairs & media"_ - because that *_is_* what you're talking about, isn't it? Consuming information from sources that all promulgate the version of reality that purveyed by western governments & institutions. You have to ignore all contradictory information in order to believe the fantasyland being spun by Western elites.

    • @18_rabbit
      @18_rabbit Před 8 dny

      indeed and is stuck in the past when might always made right, even if sadistically savage in character. These indifferent amoral ppl are not ok in the head or spirit, obviously.

  • @johncromwell2529
    @johncromwell2529 Před 26 dny +8

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

  • @Donovanwashere
    @Donovanwashere Před 26 dny +23

    🇺🇦🙏🇬🇪💪🇺🇸

  • @moinyp
    @moinyp Před 26 dny +5

    @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! 👍

  • @mikekolyshkin3931
    @mikekolyshkin3931 Před 26 dny +10

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

  • @SL-sd3sg
    @SL-sd3sg Před 26 dny +20

    💙💛🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻🇬🇧

  • @harmoniacaotica
    @harmoniacaotica Před 26 dny +4

    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.

  • @ruthwolfer4154
    @ruthwolfer4154 Před 25 dny +3

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

  • @mitchellgreene867
    @mitchellgreene867 Před 25 dny +1

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

  • @migproductions4045
    @migproductions4045 Před 26 dny +3

    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
      @evansiegel1732 Před 23 dny

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

  • @menuxpressions9128
    @menuxpressions9128 Před 26 dny +47

    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
      @max_skim-pontoon-cough Před 26 dny +2

      Incredible that the aborigines can speak our language ❤❤😂

    • @mduckernz
      @mduckernz Před 26 dny +9

      @@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
      @donotmislead Před 26 dny +8

      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
      @donotmislead Před 26 dny

      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
      @tamarasidlartchouk3138 Před 26 dny +3

      @@donotmislead 👍👏👏

  • @georgine321
    @georgine321 Před 26 dny +13

    A grey psychopath !! Love it.

    • @carolwilliams8511
      @carolwilliams8511 Před 26 dny

      There are now many names for the kremlin goblin. 😊

    • @TotalRookie_LV
      @TotalRookie_LV Před 25 dny

      @@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).

    • @18_rabbit
      @18_rabbit Před 8 dny

      precisely, a psychopath is Charap. So disturbing, such a carryover of the entire conservative 20th century, Kissinger-esque horrors.

  • @PandemoniumMeltDown
    @PandemoniumMeltDown Před 26 dny +5

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

  • @agustinussiahaan6669
    @agustinussiahaan6669 Před 25 dny +1

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

  • @oscarmora4602
    @oscarmora4602 Před 26 dny +10

    Wow!!!

  • @mikekolyshkin3931
    @mikekolyshkin3931 Před 22 dny +1

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

  • @chuckkottke
    @chuckkottke Před 25 dny +1

    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.

  • @tamarasidlartchouk3138
    @tamarasidlartchouk3138 Před 26 dny +14

    Vatnalist-👏👏👏

    • @lesiadubenko2773
      @lesiadubenko2773 Před 26 dny +6

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

    • @jeffhicks8428
      @jeffhicks8428 Před 26 dny

      @@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.

  • @marcvangastel2157
    @marcvangastel2157 Před 25 dny +3

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

  • @terryhand
    @terryhand Před 24 dny +1

    Good to see Lesia back on Silicon Curtain.

  • @ulfsoderberg2581
    @ulfsoderberg2581 Před 26 dny +3

    She is an excellent analyst

  • @DarkestAlice
    @DarkestAlice Před 16 dny

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

  • @jeremygreenwood1021
    @jeremygreenwood1021 Před 26 dny +3

    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
      @stephenhill545 Před 25 dny

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

  • @noelgrace99
    @noelgrace99 Před 26 dny +2

    Always like your interviews

  • @TeeganDuckworth-ko6vs
    @TeeganDuckworth-ko6vs Před 26 dny +1

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

  • @shaiaheyes2c41
    @shaiaheyes2c41 Před 26 dny +3

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

  • @SuperbStevieG
    @SuperbStevieG Před 25 dny +1

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

  • @riversandrds
    @riversandrds Před 25 dny +1

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

  • @Martin-mc6hr
    @Martin-mc6hr Před 25 dny

    Thank you Jonathon and Lesia. 🇺🇦🇦🇺

  • @sherrillwhately7586
    @sherrillwhately7586 Před 26 dny +5

    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
      @briansomogie Před 26 dny +2

      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
      @DARDA360 Před 26 dny +4

      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
      @sergiystoyan899 Před 25 dny +2

      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.

    • @alexivery2261
      @alexivery2261 Před 8 dny +3

      Lex Friedman had arranged an interview with Putin just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The interview did not happen. But Friedman took a "neutral" position and did not condemn Russian aggression justifying it by the fact that he has many close friends on both sides of the "conflict." I believe that every notable person working with Russia related topics sooner or later is advanced by the KGB recruitment network.

    • @sherrillwhately7586
      @sherrillwhately7586 Před 8 dny

      @@alexivery2261 I was listening to the Sanders Alt-Left out of curiosity at the time. The footage coming out of Mariupol jolted me awake and out of that mindset altogether.

  • @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.

  • @aniainlondon
    @aniainlondon Před 7 dny +1

    Reminds me of when marjorie traitor green recently said something that was so obviously not in her vocabulary. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s a paid vatnik. Not a vatnalyst because analysis is too complex for her.
    Also reminds me of Operator Starsky’s anti propaganda effort. He warns that ruzzia’s propaganda is extremely sophisticated and has deeply infiltrated all areas of the West. This was such an interesting interview which further underlines this.
    Very eye opening.

  • @FatFrankie42
    @FatFrankie42 Před 8 dny +1

    🇺🇦Слава Україні!🇺🇦
    🇵🇱Chwała Polsce!🇵🇱
    🇪🇪Au olgu Eestile!🇪🇪
    🇫🇮Kunnia Suomelle!🇫🇮
    🇸🇪Ära till Sverige!🇸🇪
    🇬🇪დიდება საქართველოს!🇬🇪
    🇱🇻Slava Latvijai!🇱🇻
    🇹🇩Slavă României!🇹🇩
    🇳🇴Ære til Norge!🇳🇴
    ✊️💞🏴🍞
    Solidarity Forever!!
    🌻героям слава!🌻

  • @hubertussuppenstiefel5590

    Great interview!

  • @Andres_1970
    @Andres_1970 Před 26 dny +2

    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.

  • @brittadueandersen2519
    @brittadueandersen2519 Před 26 dny +1

    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.

  • @Whatshisname346
    @Whatshisname346 Před 25 dny +1

    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.

  • @TheKronprinsen
    @TheKronprinsen Před 25 dny

    Thank you for a really good intervju.

  • @krastsjanis
    @krastsjanis Před 25 dny

    Nice to hear this interview.

  • @BasilBadger
    @BasilBadger Před 26 dny +1

    Thank you for yet a great interview.

  • @skippy9659
    @skippy9659 Před 26 dny +36

    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
      @mvjh2277 Před 26 dny +9

      Anne Applebaum is good,too.

    • @alacazaba
      @alacazaba Před 26 dny

      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
      @louisgiokas2206 Před 26 dny +6

      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
      @nerdyali4154 Před 25 dny

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

    • @18_rabbit
      @18_rabbit Před 8 dny +1

      @@mvjh2277 yes! epically brilliant she is, as is Fiona Hill, such incredibly deep knowledge and then analytical capacity. I'm in awe and long ago i got to study in D.C. at GU with brilliant professors and various pro's from all over the world.

  • @jberkeley1195
    @jberkeley1195 Před 26 dny +1

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

  • @louisnaidu9140
    @louisnaidu9140 Před 26 dny +1

    Thanks for another interesting interview

  • @LanaGrey-db9qp
    @LanaGrey-db9qp Před 26 dny +2

    Slava Ukraini 💙💛

  • @1964corvair1
    @1964corvair1 Před 25 dny

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

  • @BertBruins-ri9dv
    @BertBruins-ri9dv Před 26 dny +1

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

    • @terryhand
      @terryhand Před 25 dny

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

  • @markuswenner9598
    @markuswenner9598 Před 10 dny

    Danke!

  • @valdud9745
    @valdud9745 Před 26 dny

    Good. Thanks

  • @chuckkottke
    @chuckkottke Před 25 dny

    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. 👣

  • @keithdunwoody1302
    @keithdunwoody1302 Před 26 dny +5

    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?

  • @samplumbe3288
    @samplumbe3288 Před 26 dny +2

    Glad I never heard of samuel

  • @dss2mtm
    @dss2mtm Před 25 dny

    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.

  • @Ultra-Violet
    @Ultra-Violet Před 26 dny +1

    What a huggable guest 💜

    • @johnhigson6206
      @johnhigson6206 Před 26 dny

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

    • @Ultra-Violet
      @Ultra-Violet Před 26 dny +2

      @@johnhigson6206 one of the best channels around 👍🏻

  • @garywalls5181
    @garywalls5181 Před 26 dny +1

    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.

  • @pault.3524
    @pault.3524 Před 26 dny +4

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

  • @msvergara
    @msvergara Před 26 dny

    best5 interviews about Ukraine

  • @WalterBurton
    @WalterBurton Před 22 dny

    👍👍👍

  • @JYRIVIRMA
    @JYRIVIRMA Před 16 dny

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

  • @anniecarola
    @anniecarola Před 26 dny

    👌

  • @hereiam1963
    @hereiam1963 Před 26 dny +1

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

  • @Calligraphybooster
    @Calligraphybooster Před 26 dny +6

    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
      @nerdyali4154 Před 25 dny

      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
      @stevebeer3324 Před 17 dny

      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.

  • @thor9563
    @thor9563 Před 26 dny

    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!

  • @TotalRookie_LV
    @TotalRookie_LV Před 25 dny

    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.

  • @CynthiaBlair
    @CynthiaBlair Před 26 dny

    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
      @nerdyali4154 Před 25 dny

      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.

  • @arthurcphelps
    @arthurcphelps Před 26 dny +2

    Thanks!

  • @user-fz7zt6cw6f
    @user-fz7zt6cw6f Před 26 dny +5

    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.

  • @neilclay5835
    @neilclay5835 Před 26 dny +3

    Ugh Charap 🤮

  • @tomaszcodasz
    @tomaszcodasz Před 25 dny

    One of them (Michał Rachoń) you have interviewed

  • @peterhumphrys
    @peterhumphrys Před 26 dny +8

    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
      @SiliconCurtain  Před 26 dny +11

      All previously members of the Valdai Club.

    • @zetristan4525
      @zetristan4525 Před 26 dny

      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
      @symbionese2348 Před 26 dny +1

      @@zetristan4525 You have come the closest of anyone to explaining Mearsheimer to me. Having
      listened to him on CZcams 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
      @zetristan4525 Před 26 dny +1

      @@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
      @symbionese2348 Před 25 dny

      @@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.

  • @ReadEldred
    @ReadEldred Před 26 dny +1

    Lesia 4 President

  • @Virgilvega-kw9nm
    @Virgilvega-kw9nm Před 26 dny +1

    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

  • @atfreema
    @atfreema Před 26 dny

    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?

  • @barryoverson4988
    @barryoverson4988 Před 26 dny

    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"

  • @vvaldez0221
    @vvaldez0221 Před 26 dny +3

    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
      @petehowett2854 Před 26 dny

      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
      @terryhand Před 25 dny

      @@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
      @AIAudiobooks411 Před 23 dny

      @@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!

  • @markmccabek9
    @markmccabek9 Před 9 dny

    I love this channel and the deeply knowledgeable sources that you have on here. I completely support a pro Ukraine, pro-western, anti-murderous Putin "bias".
    Based on numerous other sources I believe the things this woman is saying are based on reality, but I have to say that I feel intellectually dirty listening to her. I feel like I'm listening to some poorly educated, highly socially biased teenager gossip about the other kids in school.
    In the future I will help myself to feel better by skipping any podcasts with her... and of be much happier if there are none to skip. 😞

  • @johng.roberts408
    @johng.roberts408 Před 22 dny

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

  • @Whatshisname346
    @Whatshisname346 Před 23 dny

    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.

  • @terryhand
    @terryhand Před 26 dny

    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
      @slimski Před 25 dny

      Where was that?

    • @terryhand
      @terryhand Před 25 dny

      ​@@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
      @nerdyali4154 Před 25 dny

      @@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".

  • @srve1149
    @srve1149 Před 25 dny

    What did he write? this Samuel guy.

  • @mikeparaska2984
    @mikeparaska2984 Před 26 dny

    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
      @petehowett2854 Před 26 dny

      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.

  • @VM-hl8ms
    @VM-hl8ms Před 26 dny

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

  • @slimski
    @slimski Před 25 dny

    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

  • @timmommens901
    @timmommens901 Před 25 dny

    🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦✌✌🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

  • @richardfinlayson1524
    @richardfinlayson1524 Před 25 dny

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

  • @evansiegel1732
    @evansiegel1732 Před 23 dny +1

    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
      @SiliconCurtain  Před 23 dny

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

    • @philippage60
      @philippage60 Před 20 dny

      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.