S8 Ep111: 5/8 Michael McFaul's book Autocrats Versus Democrats argues that Putinism is driven by anti-Western ideology, making Putin a risk-taker, and McFaul believes the US erred by lacking a robust response and failing to provide arms after the 2014 Crimea invas

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

News, Arts, Books, Society & Culture

4.5 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 22 November 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

5/8 Michael McFaul's book Autocrats Versus Democrats argues that Putinism is driven by anti-Western ideology, making Putin a risk-taker, and McFaul believes the US erred by lacking a robust response and failing to provide arms after the 2014 Crimea invasion, stressing that helping Ukraine win is essential to inspire Russian democrats. He asserts that the appeal of autocracy is growing globally and advises that the US must align democracies against autocrats while advocating for human rights, citing the need to support imprisoned publisher Jimmy Lai. Long-term strategy requires the US and its allies to unite, as they are collectively stronger economically and militarily than autocracies, and McFaulstrongly recommends attracting international talent by reversing restrictive immigration policies, calling it a great strength the US is currently losing.
1913

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	There's no better feeling than waking up surrounded by comfort.
0:05.0	From Dunelm, the home of your kind of cosy.
0:08.0	Layer up in loveliness with our soft brushed cotton bedding and textured throws and pillows.
0:15.0	Discover hundreds of snug ways to style up your space at your local Denelm,
0:20.0	or online with free click and collect in as little as two hours.
0:24.9	The home of your kind of cozy, Denelm.
0:27.8	The Home of Homes.
0:35.2	This is CBS Eye on the World.
0:38.7	Here's John Batchelor.
0:40.5	Continuing with Professor Michael McFaul,
0:43.8	ambassador to the Russian Federation for the Barack Obama administration,
0:50.9	and also a leader of the Freeman Spogley Institute on the Stanford campus.
0:56.9	He is most important to me, the author of a new book, Autocrats of a Versus Democrats,
1:02.0	China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder.
1:05.4	And he's made a promise to his fans that he'll write the next book about how Iran and North Korea and other illiberal
1:13.7	societies are working together with the two big ones. But right now we've got a three-body
1:19.9	problem. We have three nuclear powers, all of whom have claimed to be powerful, the great states.
1:28.9	And it's necessary to solve them on the basis of what Michael emphasizes is leadership.
1:35.3	The leader of the Soviet, now Russian Federation, looks to be Vladimir Putin.
1:41.7	And we need to understand what Putinism is, even if it's not about him, if it's about
1:46.5	the effect of him.
1:48.5	Michael, you're right.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.