Is Russia’s war endangering democracy?

KCRW's Left, Right & Center

KCRW

352865, News

4.2 • 4.8K Ratings

🗓️ 25 November 2022

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s been nine months since Russia invaded Ukraine, starting a war that has killed at least 200,000 military personnel and approximately 40,000 civilians, according to U.S. officials.

Winter is fast approaching, and it seems like both sides might be gearing up to fight well into next year.

At the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit, world leaders issued a statement saying they “deplore in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.” They demanded a “complete and unconditional” withdrawal from Ukraine.

Thousands of Russian citizens have fled the country to avoid the draft, while others have been arrested for protesting their government’s actions. Are Russians responsible for President Vladimir Putin’s decisions? And could this be the moment a lasting empire falls in Russia?

Plus, Russia is not the only democracy worldwide that has shifted in recent years. Leading up to the recent midterm elections, President Biden said repeatedly democracy itself was at risk, a sentiment shared by the majority of Americans. Is America’s democracy adjusting to current society or are we falling into authoritarianism?

Host David Greene discusses with special guest Anne Applebaum, historian and staff writer at The Atlantic, about what’s at stake for the future of Russia and Ukraine, as well as her recent article, “The Russian Empire Must Die.”

Plus, Mo Elleithee, executive director of Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service, joins on the left; and Sarah Isgur, staff writer at The Dispatch, on the right, weigh in on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s legacy after her announcement to not seek reelection to Democratic leadership.

What made Pelosi special? How did she become an enemy for Republicans? And where will House Democrats go from here?

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is David Greene on the co-founder of Fearless Media and your host here on Left Right
0:05.4	and Center.
0:06.4	This is the show where we take on all the political issues, even the complicated ones
0:09.9	that might be dividing your own family.
0:12.1	Well, as we head into the holiday weekend, we want to take a broad look at foreign policy
0:17.0	right now around the world.
0:19.0	It has been nine months since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and US officials
0:25.1	say some 40,000 civilians have been killed in this conflict, more than 200,000 military
0:31.4	deaths on the Russian and Ukrainian sides.
0:34.0	Is there any end in sight?
0:36.2	Well, the prevailing US opinion is that the two countries are far from sitting down for
0:40.7	any peace talks.
0:41.7	We want to bring in someone who has been covering the region for many years.
0:45.7	Ann Applebaum is a staff writer for the Atlantic and author of many award-winning books about
0:49.5	Russia and beyond, including Gulag, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction.
0:54.1	And thank you so much for taking a little time for us.
0:57.2	Sure, delighted.
0:58.9	And I'd really love to dig in with you and a recent article in the Atlantic that you wrote
1:05.2	and the headline just grabs you, the Russian Empire Must Die.
1:09.1	What exactly are you referring to and why must it die?
1:12.4	The Russian Empire is really a state of mind as much as a reality and it's one of the
1:18.2	reasons, well, it's really the primary central reason for Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
	...

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