Russia

The US is accused of trying to keep Russia weak and off-balance through various provocations and strategic overextension.

“These are all the free riders. These are, you know, the excuse makers for this kind of policy. But essentially, I think what it really is, is just trying to keep Russia weak and off balance as much as possible. And, you know, like there's this really important…”

Discussed as the aggressor in the war and a major power with a significant nuclear arsenal.

“... Comintern, and the Russians are the more conservative Christian force. And so, like, if... Not that Trump's a Christian, but you know what I mean, and they're anti-right everything, that the Russians are the right. Not the, the Ukrainians are the left, but…”

Discussed as the primary adversary in the conflict and the target of US strategic defeat policies.

“And they just went ahead and did all of these things. And in fact, they were doing... They were messing around... It, it was actually the last year of Trump that they, uh, tried to overthrow Belarus. Uh, so that was independent of, of Biden's wishes. That was …”

Mentioned as having strengthened economic ties with China and being the target of U.S. efforts to isolate it from Germany.

“China in our Cold War with them or worse." And which I think is stupid and didn't work. I think that was the, the choice that Joe Biden made, and I think it was totally wrong, 'cause it just strengthened the relationship between Russia and China. The Russians …”

Discussed as a nation that the U.S. provokes, leading to reactive behavior rather than inherent aggression.

“We're constantly provoking, and everything that we see them do is clearly a reaction.”

Discussed as a nation that was promised NATO would not expand toward its borders, leading to current tensions.

“Absolutely. And by the way, so let's talk about that for just a second, 'cause people dispute that and say it's not true, but it is true. And in fact, H.W. Bush gave the first promise to Gorbachev in Malta in December of 1989, that if you let the Eastern Europ…”

Discussed as a target of US strategic containment and as an actor in regional conflicts.

“Yeah. And in fact, the same George Friedman from Stratfor, I think it's in that same speech or maybe a different, uh, one where he says, "Yeah, when, when Iran is doing a little bit better, you hit them. When Russia's doing better, you hit them. When China's a…”

Mentioned as a country that oil pipelines are currently routed away from.

“Sure. Yeah, because we support the hereditary dictatorship in Azerbaijan because they help us run the oil pipelines west instead of north through Russia.”

Mentioned in the context of Horton's book regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“... I looked at it like they let me be on there for 14, 15 years or something. And, um, you know, like even when I was, uh, writing my book about the Russia-Ukraine stuff, I would do my radio show once a week, and I was able to still cover what was going on in…”

Designated as the country to receive Iran's uranium stockpile for conversion into fuel rods under the JCPOA.

“Natanz, and then at Fordow they would change it from a f- a production facility to just a research facility.And then whatever stockpile of uranium they came up with would be transferred out of the country to Russia, and they would turn it into fuel rods and se…”

Used in a hypothetical scenario regarding interference in Canada to illustrate U.S. hypocrisy.

“It's just somehow we just don't really think of it in that context, but we should. If that had happened to us, again, just like we, you know, uh, we did a little on Ukraine there and the way America just absolutely pushes their luck. If Russia overthrew the go…”

Mentioned as a subject of his book 'Provoked'.

“Got these for you here. Got Fool's Errand on Afghanistan, Enough Already on the War on Terrorism, and Provoked on Russia and Ukraine.”

Described as an autocratic power actively seeking to undermine democracy and spread disinformation.

“ideas. So let's go back to autocracy and democracy. You know, if you are the leader of Russia or you're the leader of China, what is the thing that is most threatening to you? And the answer is the language of liberal democracy. So all this stuff that we find …”

Discussed as a country where authoritarianism suppresses public opinion and debate.

“... and hierarchy for some people. And it's true that authoritarians seem to offer that. You know, in a democracy, you do have this constant change of leaders. You know, there's more demands on citizens. You know, you have to participate if you care about your…”

Mentioned as a current example of a country where individuals face significant hurdles when attempting to leave.

“... where you could set up a life, where you speak the language, where it's reasonable to imagine you could stay there for a long time. I mean, immigration, I mean, especially given languages and, and, and professional qualifications, so it is not always easy.…”

Discussed as a nation whose rise was missed by Western observers and as the state led by Vladimir Putin.

“And I think it was this sense of complacency, and above all, it was this sense of inevitability. It's inevitable. We've won the war of ideas. The war of ideas is over, and that's why we, we missed the rise of Russia.”

Used as a comparison for a political system where decisions are made for the benefit of the ruling power.

“So one of the things that we have in the United States for the first time ever, I think, is a president who is actively doing business in countries and in areas that are of interest to the people he's doing business with. So for example, the Trump family does …”

Cited as an example of a closed and repressive autocracy.

“So at a liberal democracy, meaning a state where, as I said, the electoral rules are clear, where the electoral system is set up not to favor one party or the next. And instead, it's described as an electoral democracy, which is somewhat less free. You see sim…”

Mentioned as a system existing outside of liberal democracy.

“Sure, but there are systems in between Russia and liberal democracy. You can have democracies that aren't fair, and actually, I'm afraid to tell you that in the United States there is a history of that. So the, in the American South, before the civil rights mo…”

Cited as an example of an autocracy where citizens lack influence over state decisions and cannot express their views.

“So whether it's a national healthcare system or whether it's a system of roads and railroads, you know, the state is building things that are designed to serve everybody. In an autocracy, that doesn't necessarily happen. So in Russia, ordinary Russians have no…”

Used as a comparative example of a non-democratic political system where a leader remains in power for an extended period.

“that could never happen in America, and that's obviously a bias that I have being 33 years old and not knowing a ton about history. But there's, I'm sure l- there's lots of people that think this is some sort of theoretical idea, but it would never happen in A…”

Mike Tyson discusses his travels to Russia and the presence of Black people there.

“Like, no, they came to Russia around 1909.”

Alleged to have intelligence posts on the island of Cuba.

“pretext to U- US military action so that they can then turn a- around and be like, "We said it was pretextual." Right? You gave your audience absolutely no context for all the bullshit you just heaped upon them. You just wanted the exclusive. You want to be pa…”

Mentioned as one of the three regimes the U.S. needs to gain leverage over.

“... he's partially right. I mean, we still have a lot of, uh, a- a- advantages over China. The problem is they're, they're an evil empire. And, and I've said for a long time, the goal, the job of the American president on foreign policy and national security i…”

Mentioned as a foreign power that the US seeks to prevent from gaining influence in Cuba.

“So what do you... I mean, I'm trying to think of the Trump administration's position here, Kurt, because now that we've got... It's almost like the dog catching the bumper, right? Like, we're getting what we wanted. The- they're collapsing economically, and th…”

Sent a tanker of oil to Cuba under pressure from the US.

“Yeah, your, your description is accurate. Uh, not, and not only did, uh, we cut off Venezuelan oil from getting, uh, to Cuba, Trump also o- re- basically told every other country that they were not allowed to send any oil to Cuba. They told Me- Mexico, and cou…”

Russia is facing internal crackdowns and military pressure from Ukraine.

“I wanna run through, uh, just two other foreign policy things real quick. Ukraine successfully attacked inside Moscow this, this weekend. Very interesting. Attacked a, uh, oil refinery in Moscow. Big crackdown in Russia on people sharing video and-- of what's …”

Mentioned in the context of how U.S. weakness in Syria signaled to Putin that he could act in Ukraine.

“I certainly agree that it would happen, and it did happen. I mean, Obama said we have a red line in Syria after Assad used chemical weapons in twenty thirteen. He then backed off pretty ignominiously. We thought that was terrible. I think we were right, incide…”

The speaker describes observing widespread morning alcohol consumption in the country during a 1996 visit.

“I saw it in Russia when I was there in 1996, I guess, and it had, you know, the wall had only fallen at that point for f- what, seven years or something.”

Accused of preparing to conduct cyberattacks and information warfare to favor Trump in the midterms.

“... No, I know they don't, but it's an, a part of the whole crazy old man thing. Um, one thing that I d- will say, I was with a bunch of cyber experts, and the two things they did point out, and I think correctly, is one, um, the, uh, the Russians are preparin…”

Accused of using tech platforms to conduct cyberattacks and influence operations against the US.

“There, there was, there was a guy, I think he was a McKinsey partner on the board of Goldman, and he took insider information and traded on it. He went to jail. Think about what's happening in the Trump administration around oil prices. Think about what's happ…”

Discussed as a historical rival to the British Empire and a target of divide-and-conquer strategies.

“And that's a whole complicated issue, but essentially, you know, s- partly it's, it's dynastic families r- you know, wanting the wealth of the others, and that's perhaps why they, they couped, um, uh, the tsar, you know, to get their, their fortune and get the…”

Mentioned in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“What's the point of the Russia-Ukraine war?”

Mentioned as a nuclear power with an economy smaller than China's, requiring less strategic focus than China.

“But there's this idea that conflict between us and China is inevitable. Not only is it not inevitable, but it will be the end of the world, which some people want. Some people want that, 'cause they look at the post-World War II system, they go, "It's not gonn…”

The nation involved in the conflict that Zelensky refuses to negotiate with directly.

“And Office of the President was very much against it, and Office of the President of Ukraine even organized a media campaign saying that it is absolutely morally impossible to talk to Russia, to Putin. We need just to pressure. No negotiations with Russia. You…”

The aggressor nation whose military actions and influence are used as a pretext for domestic crackdowns.

“... poets, poets, churches, writers, you know, like anything he can connect to Russia somehow. Sometimes it doesn't have any connection to Russia. It always makes us weaker. Sometimes these are Ukrainians from the past, but yeah, they used to live under like R…”

The nation responsible for the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“And, um, I supported him, and I supported him in 2022 when Russia made its large-scale invasion. As millions of Ukrainians, I was grateful that he stayed in the country.”

Referenced in the context of political accusations and alleged connections to Ukrainian government corruption.

“I talked... Yeah, and I talked to security services, and they said he, he never talked to Russia since 2021, no connection, but he is, uh, accused in treason [laughs]. And there are a lot of people who are, mm, people are persecuted. Um, obviously there are di…”

The country where a fighter's wife was imprisoned for donating to Ukraine.

“... um, there was a girl who was a, uh, f- a fighter's wife, and she was Russian, but she has American citizenship. She went back to visit, uh, her family in Russia, and the military kicked her door in in the middle of the night and arrested her.”

Mentioned in the context of the war and the participation of Russian fighters in the UFC.

“When the Russia and Ukraine war started, you know, I had people going, "Are you gonna have Russ-?" Yeah, we're gonna have Russians fight. We have Russians under contract. This is how, uh, you know, my guys feed their families.”

Canada feared that colonizing Wrangel Island would provoke Russia, as they believed the island belonged to them.

“Because we think that island belongs to Russia, and we don't wanna piss them off.”

Mentioned as a country forced to conduct business in alternative currencies due to US sanctions.

“increasingly incentivize other workarounds. Like when we sanction Russia, we force them to do business in, with, with China in their own currencies, for example. And so I think that the whole BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization, kind of the, the China-…”

Mentioned as an example of a large entity whose reserves were frozen by the US.

“Yeah, I think, I think, I mean, whether or not it happens, all countries have to consider the possibility of it happening now, right? So that, that's the first order thing is like you can't just wait till it happens. Again, going back to the question, are you …”

The Tsar of Russia sent merchants to Trebon to recruit Kelley for his alchemical skills.

“Word of their experiments spread. The Tsar of Russia sent two merchants to Trebon with a lucrative offer of employment. Kelley declined. But before they left, he gave them a dazzling performance. Adding a tiny grain of his red powder to a crucible of mercury, …”

Mentioned as a potential destination where Edward Kelley may have fled.

“There are various accounts of what became of Edward Kelley. Some say that he had a fight with an influential alchemist at Rudolf's court and ended up in prison. Others, that he faked his own death. Others still, that he fled to Russia.”

Cited as a party involved in negotiations to allow wheat flow out of Ukraine.

“... for Ukraine four years ago, and it turned out that that warning resulted in a negotiation to allow wheat to flow out of Ukraine, that Russia, Ukraine, and other folks made a specific carve-out in their war to make sure that famine didn't spread. So I think…”

Speculation existed that Edmond Safra may have been targeted by the Russian mob.

“There were allegations, none of them substantiated, that might have supported Ted's original claim about intruders. Talk that Safra had enemies, that he had been the victim of a Russian mob hit.”

Mentioned as a country influencing American education systems.

“That's a very good question, and I think that's a different thing. 'Cause I think what you're talking about is influencing American education systems, and that you could say China and Russia. They both have-”

A nation identified as a primary counterintelligence threat to the United States.

“It's a reasonable and serious worry because the organization has been demoralized, shrunken, uh, deployed in ways that are hard to understand from the outside, moving people to immigration work or other work away from their core responsibility. When what the F…”

Russian forces are reportedly preparing for a major summer offensive.

“That was Anna Holligan. The Ukrainian military claim Russian forces are preparing for a major offensive in the summer. Russian troops are already approaching the outskirts of a strategically important city in the eastern Donetsk region. The BBC's Abdul Jalil A…”

The forces attacking the soldiers' position with explosives and drones.

“The scariest moment for Hani was when the Russians discovered his position.”