As the daughter of missionaries who grew up in Japan, I am constantly dismayed at the deep asymmetry between other nations’ knowledge of US affairs and our knowledge of their affairs. I appreciate this podcast for trying to correct that imbalance, even when the news is deeply worrying. Thank you.
When highly-educated Trumpist (mostly former) “friends” who sold out the United States for a potential tax cut, a mindlessly pro-Israel policy, and a few pronouns, ask me what it is I fear about Trump, it’s exactly what Andrew Sullivan covers here. (The more educated the friend, the greater my ire.) My lord. I agree with the other commenters here that this exchange is probably the most important piece gracing the pages of The Bulwark. Bump! And wake up! John Thune, are you listening???
Outstanding work -- thank you everyone -- and in these all-too-interesting times a reconnect with Ambassador Sullivan after the next administration's foreign policy, defence, and intelligence "team" is in place might provide a further glimmer or two of rationality.
This podcast is quickly becoming my favorite in the Bulwark stable. Informative, in depth civil conversation is completely missing in most new coverage today.
Fascinating interview. We’re already at war with Russia… and we’ve already lost. A KGB spymaster took control of Russia and has spent decades probing ways to manipulate weaknesses in the US system, culminating in the opening up of political funding to the point that now we have all three branches of American government bought and paid for, with the White House under direct control by the Kremlin. NATO allies will stop sharing intelligence with America, FSB Agent Trump will dismantle all intelligence infrastructure within Russia, and we’ll soon have America First out of one, alone, on its own in a world of Russo-Chinese economic dominance.
The suspect those countries now sharing intelligence with the US will cut their ties if Gobbard is DNI. In fact I doubt that they will share with anyone in the Trump Administration. His ending comments about the Russians targeting an “enemy” in the US for assination is chilling. Especially given his prediction we wouldn’t do anything about it.
If Russia were to assassinate an American on American soil, the Biden administration would actively cover it up. I suspect Trump would be even worse. Putin has nothing to fear.
Do you remember Havana Syndrome? The US intelligence community knows that it comes from Russian directed-energy weapons that use radiation and/or acoustic waves. They have developed a portable version of the weapon, which has permanently disabled many American spies and diplomats. But the Biden administration has forced the intelligence community leaders to report a fake consensus that they don't know what causes it, but having a high degree of confidence that the Russians are not involved.
The Biden administration is not unique in this regard. Our politicians refuse to acknowledge that Russia is at war with us because to do so would require them to change their priorities. American politicians would rather spend money to promote their domestic agendas, and they see every serious foreign policy issue as an unwelcome intrusion on their business as usual.
This is probably, well, almost certainly the most important thing I’ve read or listened to in The Bulwark since I subscribed last spring. And yet, there are only 82 likes at this point and 2 comments besides mine. Why is this interview being ignored? I’ve said since February 2022 that Russia/Ukraine is THE most important issue facing our country and that it outweighs every single other thing on the table. It should have been THE single most important issue in this year’s election, and yet it was barely mentioned by anyone. The voters certainly seemed to ignore it. And both the Putin apologists in the GOP and the far left Democrats blow off the prospect of full out war between Russia and NATO as some sort of paranoid delusion. Ambassador Sullivan needs to be listened to and heeded ASAP if we are to have even a 1% chance of avoiding WW3. As a result of watching this, I now think Tulsi Gabbard needs to become #1 on the list of Trump nominees considered most dangerous, now that Gaetz is gone. In any event, Putin is going to play Trump like a fiddle. This is not going to end well.
Shield of the Republic has been one of my two favorite Bulwark podcasts (along with Beg to Differ) since its inception. I've never missed an episode. Unfortunately, most Bulwark readers, apart from us OG Weekly Standard readers, are obsessed with horse race politics and don't care much about foreign policy. JVL sometimes laments his readers' lack of interest in foreign policy.
I agree that Ukraine is the single most important issue. In fact, as far as I am concerned, it outweighs all other issues combined. But I'm a former intelligence analyst and an Orthodox Christian, so I have a more personal interest in it than most other Bulwark subscribers.
I heard nothing in this episode that surprised me in the least. I'm glad there are others with more influence than I can muster who have a clear-eyed view of Russia under Putin.
I agree about this being the most important issue. And I hate to share a link on their page, but I have consistently covered Ukraine in every single episode for the past two years on my podcast. It is that important. 👊❤️🙏
I agree. I did not even know this podcast existed until recently simply because I had not scrolled down my computer screen far enough to see it there! I've learned so much since starting to watch/listen to Shield of the Republic. Many know what a threat Tulsi Gabbard is. Tim has a podcast with Tom Nichols where Tom talks about her as well as he does at length in his Atlantic article.
Fwiw, I wasn’t paying that much attention to the Russia/Ukraine situation until January 2022 when the talk of an invasion started to break through. We went on a transatlantic cruise the week after the invasion and I had bought two books on the Russia/Ukraine problem in Miami before boarding the ship to read during the crossing. One was Timothy Snyder’s “The Road to Unfreedom”, and the other was “Conflict in Ukraine” by Rajan Menon and Eugene Rumer. Both were written after the 2014 invasion of Crimea and before the 2022 invasion, but they give an excellent overview of the roots of the conflict and why the war happened, both a history lesson and a political lesson. Over the course of that sea crossing I read both books and watched the early days of the war play out daily on BBC News on my stateroom tv. When I got home I discovered the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), at understandingwar.org and read their daily reports for the last two years. Because of this godawful election, I haven’t been reading ISW that often the last 6 months, but I have kept up with Snyder, and added Anne Applebaum and Fiona Hill to my list. Also Serhii Plokhy at Harvard.
The whole argument that the US and NATO provoked Russia into invading Ukraine is such absolute nonsense that it sets my hair on fire. Sullivan’s implication that the bureaucracy in DC is incapable of seeing what’s really happening and who they’re really dealing with is equally infuriating. The US pursuing isolationism at this point is exactly what Putin wants, ie, get us off the stage and pulling out of Europe so he can move in. Finland and Sweden are now inside NATO, thank god, but they just last week issued new crisis management guidelines for their citizens that urge every household to supply themselves so they can survive for a one week minimum without any outside help in the event of a massive countrywide shutdown. Both countries anticipate being attacked by Russia in the next two to three years. If Gabbard and Trump are not in fact Russian agents, they are definitely Russian dupes, being played on a grand scale. Musk is one too. He may have a lot of IQ points, but he has very little common sense.
I read this book by Bill Browder back in 2016 - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22609522-red-notice - It's by no means an academic tome, but it does a great job of explaining what happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union and how Putin and friends run the country. An excellent read.
I didn’t know this podcast existed until last night. And I didn’t know anything about Sullivan, much less that he was Trump’s ambassador to Russia for two years and then Biden’s for the next two years. Now I’m going to buy his book. And I absolutely never heard of the two guys who interviewed him. I’ll have to go back and look at some of the other interviews. I’m getting sick and tired of constantly having JVL, Tim and the rest shoved in my face every day. I miss Sarah, and I love Sam. But even Bill K is getting tiresome. I need more of this stuff. More meat, less vegetables.
I can guess but would like to read what Sullivan's opinion is on the building of the coming Administration's foreign post nominations and what they've signalled so far. I don't see anything to cheer about
As the daughter of missionaries who grew up in Japan, I am constantly dismayed at the deep asymmetry between other nations’ knowledge of US affairs and our knowledge of their affairs. I appreciate this podcast for trying to correct that imbalance, even when the news is deeply worrying. Thank you.
When highly-educated Trumpist (mostly former) “friends” who sold out the United States for a potential tax cut, a mindlessly pro-Israel policy, and a few pronouns, ask me what it is I fear about Trump, it’s exactly what Andrew Sullivan covers here. (The more educated the friend, the greater my ire.) My lord. I agree with the other commenters here that this exchange is probably the most important piece gracing the pages of The Bulwark. Bump! And wake up! John Thune, are you listening???
Outstanding work -- thank you everyone -- and in these all-too-interesting times a reconnect with Ambassador Sullivan after the next administration's foreign policy, defence, and intelligence "team" is in place might provide a further glimmer or two of rationality.
This podcast is quickly becoming my favorite in the Bulwark stable. Informative, in depth civil conversation is completely missing in most new coverage today.
This podcast is the hidden gem of The Bulwark.
Well Ambassador Sullivan will not be consulted by Little Marco. The Russians must be making plans for the rest of Europe
Fantastic episode, guys. I learned a ton and just added a book to my reading list. 👊❤️🙏
Fascinating interview. We’re already at war with Russia… and we’ve already lost. A KGB spymaster took control of Russia and has spent decades probing ways to manipulate weaknesses in the US system, culminating in the opening up of political funding to the point that now we have all three branches of American government bought and paid for, with the White House under direct control by the Kremlin. NATO allies will stop sharing intelligence with America, FSB Agent Trump will dismantle all intelligence infrastructure within Russia, and we’ll soon have America First out of one, alone, on its own in a world of Russo-Chinese economic dominance.
The suspect those countries now sharing intelligence with the US will cut their ties if Gobbard is DNI. In fact I doubt that they will share with anyone in the Trump Administration. His ending comments about the Russians targeting an “enemy” in the US for assination is chilling. Especially given his prediction we wouldn’t do anything about it.
If Russia were to assassinate an American on American soil, the Biden administration would actively cover it up. I suspect Trump would be even worse. Putin has nothing to fear.
Do you remember Havana Syndrome? The US intelligence community knows that it comes from Russian directed-energy weapons that use radiation and/or acoustic waves. They have developed a portable version of the weapon, which has permanently disabled many American spies and diplomats. But the Biden administration has forced the intelligence community leaders to report a fake consensus that they don't know what causes it, but having a high degree of confidence that the Russians are not involved.
The Biden administration is not unique in this regard. Our politicians refuse to acknowledge that Russia is at war with us because to do so would require them to change their priorities. American politicians would rather spend money to promote their domestic agendas, and they see every serious foreign policy issue as an unwelcome intrusion on their business as usual.
This is probably, well, almost certainly the most important thing I’ve read or listened to in The Bulwark since I subscribed last spring. And yet, there are only 82 likes at this point and 2 comments besides mine. Why is this interview being ignored? I’ve said since February 2022 that Russia/Ukraine is THE most important issue facing our country and that it outweighs every single other thing on the table. It should have been THE single most important issue in this year’s election, and yet it was barely mentioned by anyone. The voters certainly seemed to ignore it. And both the Putin apologists in the GOP and the far left Democrats blow off the prospect of full out war between Russia and NATO as some sort of paranoid delusion. Ambassador Sullivan needs to be listened to and heeded ASAP if we are to have even a 1% chance of avoiding WW3. As a result of watching this, I now think Tulsi Gabbard needs to become #1 on the list of Trump nominees considered most dangerous, now that Gaetz is gone. In any event, Putin is going to play Trump like a fiddle. This is not going to end well.
Shield of the Republic has been one of my two favorite Bulwark podcasts (along with Beg to Differ) since its inception. I've never missed an episode. Unfortunately, most Bulwark readers, apart from us OG Weekly Standard readers, are obsessed with horse race politics and don't care much about foreign policy. JVL sometimes laments his readers' lack of interest in foreign policy.
I agree that Ukraine is the single most important issue. In fact, as far as I am concerned, it outweighs all other issues combined. But I'm a former intelligence analyst and an Orthodox Christian, so I have a more personal interest in it than most other Bulwark subscribers.
I heard nothing in this episode that surprised me in the least. I'm glad there are others with more influence than I can muster who have a clear-eyed view of Russia under Putin.
I agree about this being the most important issue. And I hate to share a link on their page, but I have consistently covered Ukraine in every single episode for the past two years on my podcast. It is that important. 👊❤️🙏
https://stanrmitchell.substack.com
I agree. I did not even know this podcast existed until recently simply because I had not scrolled down my computer screen far enough to see it there! I've learned so much since starting to watch/listen to Shield of the Republic. Many know what a threat Tulsi Gabbard is. Tim has a podcast with Tom Nichols where Tom talks about her as well as he does at length in his Atlantic article.
Fwiw, I wasn’t paying that much attention to the Russia/Ukraine situation until January 2022 when the talk of an invasion started to break through. We went on a transatlantic cruise the week after the invasion and I had bought two books on the Russia/Ukraine problem in Miami before boarding the ship to read during the crossing. One was Timothy Snyder’s “The Road to Unfreedom”, and the other was “Conflict in Ukraine” by Rajan Menon and Eugene Rumer. Both were written after the 2014 invasion of Crimea and before the 2022 invasion, but they give an excellent overview of the roots of the conflict and why the war happened, both a history lesson and a political lesson. Over the course of that sea crossing I read both books and watched the early days of the war play out daily on BBC News on my stateroom tv. When I got home I discovered the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), at understandingwar.org and read their daily reports for the last two years. Because of this godawful election, I haven’t been reading ISW that often the last 6 months, but I have kept up with Snyder, and added Anne Applebaum and Fiona Hill to my list. Also Serhii Plokhy at Harvard.
The whole argument that the US and NATO provoked Russia into invading Ukraine is such absolute nonsense that it sets my hair on fire. Sullivan’s implication that the bureaucracy in DC is incapable of seeing what’s really happening and who they’re really dealing with is equally infuriating. The US pursuing isolationism at this point is exactly what Putin wants, ie, get us off the stage and pulling out of Europe so he can move in. Finland and Sweden are now inside NATO, thank god, but they just last week issued new crisis management guidelines for their citizens that urge every household to supply themselves so they can survive for a one week minimum without any outside help in the event of a massive countrywide shutdown. Both countries anticipate being attacked by Russia in the next two to three years. If Gabbard and Trump are not in fact Russian agents, they are definitely Russian dupes, being played on a grand scale. Musk is one too. He may have a lot of IQ points, but he has very little common sense.
I read this book by Bill Browder back in 2016 - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22609522-red-notice - It's by no means an academic tome, but it does a great job of explaining what happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union and how Putin and friends run the country. An excellent read.
Yes, I've seen him interviewed on Amanpour & Co. He knows what the reality is also.
I didn’t know this podcast existed until last night. And I didn’t know anything about Sullivan, much less that he was Trump’s ambassador to Russia for two years and then Biden’s for the next two years. Now I’m going to buy his book. And I absolutely never heard of the two guys who interviewed him. I’ll have to go back and look at some of the other interviews. I’m getting sick and tired of constantly having JVL, Tim and the rest shoved in my face every day. I miss Sarah, and I love Sam. But even Bill K is getting tiresome. I need more of this stuff. More meat, less vegetables.
You should watch some of the prior podcasts of theirs. They cover some very interesting historical territory. Worth the investment of time.
Thanks! I will!
I can guess but would like to read what Sullivan's opinion is on the building of the coming Administration's foreign post nominations and what they've signalled so far. I don't see anything to cheer about
Same here. Another interesting and worthwhile conversation. I always look forward to Shield of the Republic.