The defense ministry tried to deceive the public and the president to tell a story that

there was a crazy aggression from the Ukrainian side and that they were joining with the NATO alliance

to attack us. Therefore, the so-called special operation of the 24th of February was started for

other reasons.

What was the point of the war? The war was needed for the self-promotion of a bunch of bastards

to show off what a strong army it is,

so that defense minister Sergei Shogu gets a marshal.

It's Monday, June 26, 2023, and welcome back to Goodfellows, a Hoover Institution broadcast examining social, economic, political, and geopolitical concerns.

I'm Bill Whalen.

I'm a Hoover Distinguished Policy Fellow.

I'll be your moderator today.

Joining me are two of our three Goodfellows.

John Cochran is on travel, so we don't have him

today, but we are graced by the presence of the historian Neil Ferguson and the geostrategist,

Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, the H.R. McMaster, the H.R. McMaster, and rounding out our

conversation today is Dmitri, Elperovich. Dmitri is founder of the Washington DC-based think tank Silverado Policy

Accelerator. He's also the host of Geopolitics DeCanted, a podcast featuring analysis and in-depth

expert interviews on topics ranging for more in the Ukraine, great power competition with China,

semiconductors, and cybersecurity. My God, that sounds like Goodfellows, doesn't it? Dmitri,

welcome to Goodfellows. Thanks so much for having me.

So, Dimitri, sharing the screen with you today are one of the world's truly eloquent historians

and also eloquent in his own way, a former presidential national security advisor.

...