McFaul's February 2024 Newsletter
My most recent projects and publications
Dear friends and colleagues,
Since I left the government in 2014, I have been writing a monthly newsletter sharing my activities and publications. Here is the one I wrote for February 2024! As always, I welcome your feedback!
February was a very intense, emotional, and sad month for me. On February 16, Putin killed my friend Alexey Navalny. On February 24, Ukrainians and the world had to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Tragically, Putin’s soldiers continue to kill Ukrainian soldiers and civilians every day. And we in the United States are not doing enough to stop this killing.
As I try to do every February, I attended the Munich Security Conference (MSC) last month. The night before the conference began, I met with Yulia Navalnya – Alexei’s wife – who was in Munich with her colleague, Leonid Volkov, to raise awareness about her husband’s imprisonment and torture. That night, she described in gruesome detail the horrendous conditions of her husband’s prison cell. The next morning, she called to tell me that they had killed Alexei. She asked for my help in getting my wife to reach out to Dasha that day, a Stanford student at Stanford. A few days later, Yulia came to California to see her daughter. It was a very sad week. But Yulia is a strong, brave woman, who decided to continue her husband’s work. I highly recommend you watch her announcement here. Her daughter, Dasha, is too. If you want to know courage, look up her speeches. In response to Alexei’s death, I wrote a personal piece, “Goodbye to my fearless friend, Alexei Navalny,” published in The Washington Post.
And just a few days later, we had to mark another tragic event, the beginning of the third year of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. To commemorate the second anniversary of Putin’s barbaric, senseless war in Ukraine, four fantastic Ukrainian government and civil society leaders joined us over Zoom to talk about how the war continues to impact daily life in Ukraine, and what Russia’s aggression means both for Ukraine's future and the vitality of the global democratic order. You can watch a recording of the event here or listen to this episode of our World Class podcast at FSI.
Consequently, this month, I spent a lot of time writing and talking, all in an attempt to explain these two events to the American public. On NBC, I suggested that there should be new sanctions every day as long as Putin’s army continues to occupy Ukraine, and highlighted the bravery of Russians who showed up at Navalny’s funeral, despite arrest threats. On Substack, I explained the danger of Trump’s comments disparaging NATO allies, which you can read here, and highlighted how approving new aid for Ukraine is a “Win-Win-Win for Speaker Johnson, Ukraine, and Navalny Supporters.”
This month, I appeared on the Washington Post Live podcast to discuss the future of Russia, which you can watch here. I also joined Navalny’s team on the Popular Politics YouTube Channel to discuss the Western response to Navalny’s death, sanctions, and the Putin-Carlson interview. You can watch it here (in Russian).
Early in February, we also hosted the president of Slovakia, Zuzana Čaputová, at FSI. She is both the youngest and first female president of Slovakia, who joined us for a discussion on democracy, misinformation, and Russian aggression. You can read about it here and watch a recording here.
Oleksii Goncharenko, Ukraine’s Member of Parliament, also visited FSI in February. He shared a very honest and compelling perspective on the current situation in Ukraine and emphasized how high the stakes are in this war not just for Ukraine but for the West more broadly. Oleksii also addressed hard and controversial questions regarding Ukraine’s domestic politics. It was a terrific session!
This month, I have also learned that I have been awarded the Order for Merits to Lithuania by the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nausea. It is truly an honor! I hope to return to this beautiful country soon.
I continue to coordinate the International Working Group on Russian Sanctions and remain in close contact with my Ukrainian colleagues. In fact, this month, we published our Working Group Paper #18, discerning four key steps to constrain Russia in 2024 and beyond in the energy sector.
To stay updated on events, opportunities, and policy recommendations by scholars at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, please sign up for FSI email blasts and follow us on LinkedIn. As always, feel free to share your comments on the content below and any suggestions for improving this newsletter. To sign up for the newsletter, please click here. And follow me on Twitter at @McFaul. I hope you join us here at FSI and Stanford for amazing events like the ones we had this month.
Sincerely,
Mike
God bless your witness!Bob
Dear Ambassador McFaul,
Congratulations on your recent Order for Merits to Lithuania award. I have learned so much from you over the past 2 years, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and recently read "From Cold War to Hot Peace."
I very much admire your compassion for Ukraine and her people. My condolences on the loss of your friend, Alexy Navalny. I remain in awe of his courage & passion for his country and am so sad that he is gone.
I contacted my congressman, Jamie Raskin's office today to express my support for the aid package for Ukraine & asked his office for the most effective way to get my message to Mike Johnson.
Thank you.
Thank you