McFaul's May 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!
As many of you know by now, most of my work currency revolves around analyzing Russia’s war in Ukraine and offering concrete policy recommendations for how to move forward effectively. In my talk, I explain the Causes and Consequences of Putin's Invasion of Ukraine. If you’re interested in understanding why Putin invaded Ukraine and my take on how the war might end, check it out here.
As per usual, this month I wrote a lot and spoke a lot to try to help end this war. I wrote a piece on MSNBC discerning why Russia's Nonsense About an Assassination Attempt Is a Sign of Its Desperation. On Substack, I discussed Why I Did Not Celebrate “Victory Day” on May 9th, emphasized The Long-Term Significance of Sending F-16s to Ukraine, and congratulated President Biden and other G7 Leaders for Implementing More Sanctions against Russia, calling for more. Lastly, I also shared some reflections from my weekend trip to Tallinn, where I attended the annual Lennart Meri Conference. These days, I am publishing more on Substack! Sign up!
On Substack, I also held an hour-long Ask Me Anything session (for paid readers only). Thank you to everyone who joined me. Your questions were fantastic and have inspired new Substack posts! I do one of these sessions on the first Friday of every month, so join me then to discuss recent posts or anything else on your mind. The next Ask Me Anything session will be on Friday, June 2, from 12 to 1 pm PST. Join me today via Subsatck chat!
On NBC this month, I discussed Russia’s destruction in Bakhmut, further emphasized that a drone attack was not an assignation attempt on Vladimir Putin, commented on Putin’s decision to sanction key Trump adversaries, and hypothesized that the Wagner group leader may be posturing for a political future. I also recorded an interview with a Ukrainian journalist Alexei Goncharenko in Russian on YouTube, and we talked about NATO, China, red lines, Russia’s Victory Day parade, and the Kremlin. You can watch it here (in Russian).
I continue to plug away on my new book on Great Power Competition in the 21st Century: Lesson for the Cold War for Competing with China and Russia Today. I completed a new draft this month. But it is way too long! Maybe I should circulate chapters here and you could give me feedback? You can preview the Table of Contents here.
Beyond speaking and writing, this quarter I have been teaching two classes at Stanford: a seminar on Great Power Relations in the 21st Century and a lecture course on Defending Democracy at Home and Abroad. The latter is a course offered to both Stanford students and the community online. For the seminar, you can see the syllabus here.
Additionally, I continue to coordinate the International Working Group on Russian Sanctions. This month, our working group released an important paper, outlining how to further strengthen sanctions against Russia. We called it Action Plan 2.0. We are always looking for new ideas. 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, please click 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
Professor McFaul, I want you to know how much I appreciated Stanford's online classes on defending Democracy. You, Professor Reich and Professor Schaake were beyond terrific. The last session took my breath away. Thank you.
Hello mr.McFaul ,do you have any ideya about Post-Russia project in case Russia lose war?