Ukraine

The central focus of the conflict and the subject of debate regarding Western intervention.

“... 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…”

The country is described as being deeply divided and subject to significant US political and military infiltration.

“they know good and well that Ukraine is deeply divided, especially politically, on questions like whether they should join the NATO alliance or whether they'd rather be closer to Russia or try to split the difference and stay out of it or anything like that. A…”

The central focus of the discussion regarding the war and its devastating impact on the country.

“Damascus, which is, of course, exactly what happened at the end of '24.They said we could increase support for the, what was then the ongoing civil war that had broken out after the revolution in 2014. And we could increase support for the Ukrainian side of th…”

Described as Russia's 'Canada' and a state that became a proxy for American influence.

“And this is, Ukraine is Russia's Canada, right? Kazakhstan's their Mexico, Ukraine's their Canada. It's their most important neighboring state, other than maybe Belarus, but same difference here. And so-”

Noted as a conflict that has largely faded from public consciousness in favor of Middle Eastern events.

“one of the things that's not talked about at all since Iran, it, it... I mean, rarely talked about, i- is Ukraine.”

Topic of the debate Scott Horton participated in at Oxford.

“in fact, I just got back from England. I got invited to do the Oxford debate, which I lost, on Ukraine. Um, but then I invited myself on Piers Morgan Live as long as I was in town. And I-”

Discussed as a site of Russian invasion and US-supported conflict.

“... and this kind of thing. And, um, and then what happened was the Russians invaded. They sent regular troops across. They were asked by the government there to come and intervene. They sent troops. They crushed the insurrection. And then it was funny 'cause …”

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.”

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…”

Mentioned in the context of American interventionism.

“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…”

The location where soldiers are defending Kostiantynivka against drone attacks.

“Kenya is an infantryman from the 93rd Brigade. His unit defends Kostiantynivka, a strategic city in eastern Ukraine. Kamikaze drones hunt down everything that moves there, and the area along the front line that's within the range of these machines is called th…”

The Ukrainian military is preparing for a potential Russian 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 country currently facing a war, demographic collapse, and humanitarian crisis.

“Now, with around 10 or plus, 10 plus million of Ukrainians turning into refugees, going to the West, some stay in occupation, you know, Eastern countries and even some in RussiaPerhaps there are around 25 million in the, Ukrainians in the country. And the wors…”

The country is described as being in a state of fear with restricted freedoms and surreal rules.

“beginning of 2025, and I had so multiple sources that were saying that Zelenskyy is not going to finish this war. People are going crazy there. I was going crazy. You're like in the closed cage. You're being shelled and bombed. You can die any moment from Russ…”

Ukraine is conducting successful military strikes against Russian oil infrastructure and demonstrating increased autonomy.

“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 …”

Used as a comparison for the resilience of the Taiwanese people.

“I mean, I hope that's not entirely the case. And the Taiwanese are pretty resilient. They have a little bit of Ukraine in them probably, but, uh, and they... Yeah, I don't know. And this, again, is the damage, I mean, that's been done by Trump. You can't just …”

Referenced as a territory impacted by the geopolitical signals sent by the U.S. during the Syrian civil war.

“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…”

Mentioned as a site of conflict where civilians are being killed.

“I will look at the Syrians and say, "That is not right." I will look at the Ukrainians that are, were being butchered endlessly by Putin and say, "That's pissing me off," and on and on.”

The site of a war representing the fault line between democratic and autocratic worlds.

“disinformation looks like. There's a Chinese version, too, which we don't see that much in English, but it appears in, in other countries. We see them seeking to undermine democracy, trying to, uh, spread the influence of a different set of ideas. So the war i…”

Mentioned as a place where the author has studied the effects of Russian occupation and regime change.

“You know, where it wasn't-- you didn't automatically assume that it was good. We also have an assumption that there is some kind of meritocracy in our societies, right? That if you try hard and work hard and maybe you're lucky and study, then you can be succes…”

Applebaum emphasizes the importance of staying informed about reality on the ground in Ukraine.

“Um, and, and the making sure that we're constantly in touch with what's, what's reality on the ground, what's really happening in Ukraine, you know, what's really happening in Iran, and not living on just what's available to us on our phones, is really importa…”

Mentioned in the context of Russian military actions and the lack of public input on state spending priorities.

“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 an example of the brutal costs and difficulties of maintaining territorial integrity during conflict.

“That being the case, 21st century fertility decline... I mean, you can think about this, North and South Korea. North Korea's fertility rate is something like two times that of South Korea. China has low fertility, but still has this, this big, uh, age bump th…”

Mentioned as a critical region for wheat exports where negotiations were held to prevent famine during the war.

“... 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…”

Discussed as a region with significant mineral resources and fertile farmland, but lacking a direct national security interest for the US.

“Ukraine is a financial interest. They have trillions of dollars of minerals. They have a lot of fertile farmland. They're the, you know, breadbasket of Europe, whatever, but there's no national security interest that the United States has in the Ukraine, but t…”

Compared to Taiwan in terms of national security importance to the United States.

“to be part of China, and China doesn't believe in going to war unless they absolutely must. This is something that, you know, has been talked about a lot, and that is that China believes... If you look at their Belt and Road Initiative, they're going t- into A…”

Mentioned in the context of the conflict that led to the freezing of Russian reserves.

“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 …”

Mentioned alongside Russia regarding the ongoing war and its impact on global sports operations.

“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.”

The country that received a $15 donation from a fighter's wife, leading to her arrest in Russia.

“They had found that she had donated $15 to, um, Ukraine, and they arrested her and had her in a Russian prison, and President Trump, I called him, and he got her out.”

Mentioned in the context of the ongoing war with Russia.

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

Mentioned as an unresolved war zone.

“Yeah. So that's a different way of looking at the world. So, um, and probably a better one. But given that worldview, you see now the unresolved war in Ukraine, this new war in Iran, which seems like it is already a global war. Who knows?”

Cited as an example of a nation repelling a larger aggressor through technology.

“Yeah, he-- or, or not even a warning. It was more-- I saw it more as like a preview that we are gonna start-- We are seriously considering some sort of soft or not so soft repatriation, acquisition, invasion, whatever wo- Use whatever word you want, of Taiwan.…”

Mentioned in the context of the conflict and the subsequent calls to cancel Russian literature.

“Yeah. Right. Right. And we realize that the PR ch- agents changes depending on what's trendy or who's in power, what regime is holding the purse straps, right? This happens with language, too, and we, we ban books, we cancel various, uh, languages. Like, what'…”

Mentioned in the context of polarizing political discourse on social media platforms.

“They use these porous platforms that are totally focused on shareholder value. They create lists of people who are, uh, pro-Ukraine or, or people who are polarizing, and they infect their comments and the people's perception of them. They diminish their credib…”

The country where Panettiere's daughter was moved to live.

“... or, "There's something wrong with you," or, or whatever the ridiculous things we all hear are in, in those scenarios. Yeah, I think it was around this same time that you talk about in the book where the custody of your daughter shifts from-You know, over t…”