My apologies for not being able to post the last couple of days. Pretty intense schedule and fortunate to be hanging out with John Mearsheimer, Judge Napolitano and Alastair Crooke. Monday was devoted to a heavily attended seminar at the the Higher School of Economics . Alastair, John, Judge Nap and I each made a short presentation and then fielded questions from the audience, which was comprised largely of students and faculty.
The general theme was what comes next following the breakdown of the international rules based order that has dominated global politics for the last 8 decades. I likened out current situation to a game of international football (aka soccer for you gringos) in which the US gets to set the rules and change them mid-game. Opposing teams are required to have their hands and feet tied together and can only have half the number of players on the field at any given time.
Needless to say, those who try to play under such capricious and unfair rules are prone to be outraged and will rebel against the system. That is where we find ourselves now. More countries are voicing frustration, if not outrage, over the bullying that has become the common policy of the United States, regardless of who is President.
Following the seminar, the four of us were invited to a private dinner with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. I took him a Florida shirt that he can wear proudly on the beaches of the Black Sea once summer comes and he has a chance to kick back and relax. Here is the invite:
The dinner was an off-the-record, candid discussion. Lavrov was very relaxed and has a terrific, albeit sardonic, sense of humor. I reminded him of our previous discussion from March 2025, when the Judge, Mario Nawfal and I, asked about the collapse of the peace negotiations in April 2022 at Istanbul. He reaffirmed that Russia had accepted in principle the proposed agreement brought to the table by Ukraine, which would have left the Donbas as part of Ukraine provided that the rights of the Russian speaking civilians and the Orthodox clergy were protected. As we now know, Joe Biden and Boris Johnson blew up that deal and the Ukrainians walked away. Historians will look back at that moment as an act of collective suicide by Ukraine and the West.
Despite the recent trip of Messrs. Witkoff and Kushner to Moscow and their conversation with President Putin, the chances of a negotiated settlement based on terms suggested by Trump’s surrogates are ZERO. The terms that President Putin outlined to the Russian Foreign Ministry in June 2024 remain the foundation of Russia’s negotiating position… i.e., de-nazificaton, de-militarization and new elections in Ukraine. Until Ukraine agrees to those terms the war will continue.
Worth pointing out that as the evening concluded, Russia launched a massive missile and drone strike on Kiev, which marked the end of the three-day ceasefire that Putin ordered while Witkoff and Kushner were shuttling between Moscow and Kiev. Russia is committed to winning the proxy war with NATO on the battlefield.
The propaganda percolating in the West about Russia’s failing economy and rising political unrest is a complete fabrication. If you have ever walked around a vibrant city filled with happy people going about their business, then you know the vibe in Moscow. We were fortunate to received an invite to attend the Bolshoi Ballet presentation of Swan Lake. Thank God for Bugs Bunny… I knew the musical score.
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Despite a sketchy internet connection, the Judge and I managed to complete a podcast
Zulfiqar Ali and I also battled connection issues in discussing the latest round of kinetic attacks between the US and Iran:
Did a short show with Mario:
Got Nima connected to a better website:
Iran stepped up its missile strikes against US targets during my time with Sulaiman:
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