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The Meaning of Russia’s War on Ukraine

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Aaron Smith, Onkar Ghate and Elan Journo discuss the philosophic meaning of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the global reactions to it and the war’s wider implications for America and freedom.

Among the topics covered:

  • America’s long-standing lack of a real foreign policy;
  • The cause of this approach: the refusal to think of foreign policy in moral terms;
  • Whether businesses and governments should trade with countries like Russia;
  • How America’s and Europe’s unintelligible actions have harmed Ukraine;
  • Putin’s miscalculations about the results of the invasion;
  • The amorality of deference to or praise for Putin;
  • Policy changes needed to signal the willingness to reform foreign policy along moral lines;
  • Why abolishing the United Nations is needed to withdraw moral sanction from Russian and Chinese tyranny;
  • The importance of giving moral and material support to Ukraine;
  • Additional diplomatic and economic punishments of Russia that the U.S. can inflict;
  • How a morally principled foreign policy is needed to maintain long-term opposition to Russia’s threat.

The podcast was recorded on March 2, 2022. Listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple PodcastsGoogle Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here.

Podcast audio:

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Sam Weaver

Sam Weaver, BA in English, is an associate fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute and a recipient of the Conceptual Education Fellowship.

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