McFaul's July 2023 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 2023! As always, I welcome your feedback!
In July, here at FSI, we welcomed a diverse cohort of 33 experienced practitioners from 21 countries as part of the Inaugural Fisher Family Summer Fellows program. This fantastic group of people works to advance democratic values and development in places where freedom and good governance are fragile or at risk. Their courageous stories are inspiring and their ideas are fresh. I have no doubt that these individuals will be the ones to push for democracy – the push we so need in our country and the world.
In one of my lectures in the program, I focused on the topic of my next book – great power competition. You can see the slide deck here. I also did a lecture on Advancing Democracy: Should We? Can We? That discussion was hard; some rightly complained that the U.S. is doing too little while others rightly pointed out that the U.S. is doing too much. You can see my lecture on this topic here. After three weeks of interacting with our fellows, I am more energized than ever before to try to do more to advance democracy abroad, especially in Ukraine
In my day-to-day, I continue to analyze Russia’s war in Ukraine, offering concrete policy recommendations for how to move forward effectively. If you’re interested in understanding why Putin invaded Ukraine and how the war might end, you can check out my talk, “The Causes and Consequences of Putin's Invasion of Ukraine,” here.
On Substack this month, I commented on the outcomes of the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, firmly stating that Ukraine Must (Eventually) Be a Member of NATO. I also proposed Next Steps for Bringing Ukraine into NATO: Win the War, Meet the Conditions and signed an open letter asserting that Ukraine Needs a Roadmap to NATO Membership ASAP along with 45 other foreign policy experts. Moreover, I outlined The Negative Consequences of Track 1.5 Diplomacy to End the War in Ukraine and posted an excerpt on Reconciling Our Rhetoric and Our Actions on Democracy Promotion from Advancing Democracy – the book I wrote in 2009.
On MSNBC, I offered remarks on the state of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, explained how NATO Summit was a perfect opportunity to apply more pressure on Russia, and expressed my surprise that Putin and Prigozhin met face-to-face following Prigozhin’s mutiny. I also gave an interview to the Current Time to discuss Prigozhin’s departure to Belarus and appeared on the Shadow Politics and Secrets of Statecraft podcasts. And if you want to read my longer take on the implications of Prigozhin’s mutiny for Putin’s power, read this article – Why Putin May Soon Be Remembered as “Putin the Weak” in the Journal of Democracy from last month.
Additionally, I continue to coordinate the International Working Group on Russian Sanctions. This month, our working group released another important paper, outlining how strengthening sanctions can stop Western technology from helping Russia’s military-industrial complex. We also just recently published our Action Plan 2.0. We are always looking for new ideas, so if you have any, please share!
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, you can do so here. And if you don’t already, follow me on Twitter at @McFaul and join me on Substack at McFaul’s World!
Keep in touch,
Mike