Max Boot

@maxboot.bsky.social

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CFR fellow, Washington Post columnist. Pulitzer finalist for biography. NYT bestseller. New book: REAGAN: HIS LIFE AND LEGEND (Sept ‘24). Man of many hats.

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While Russia and China spend billions to spread their lies, the State Department’s Global Engagement Center — the primary U.S. government vehicle for fighting disinformation — has a budget of just $61 million. wapo.st/3QT9P2X

Opinion | As China ramps up disinformation, the U.S. is far too vulnerablewapo.st Russia was the early leader in election interference, but Beijing might be catching up.

U.S. ammunition and weapons are now flowing, at long last, after Congress approved a $61 billion aid package, but it will take months to adequately supply all the Ukrainian forces. That creates a window of vulnerability the Russians are exploiting. bit.ly/4amzuYR

Opinion | Why Russian troops are suddenly able to advance toward Kharkivbit.ly Washington and Kyiv have both made mistakes — and Moscow is taking advantage.

The concerns raised by Gen. Petraeus, LTC Nagl and COL Mansoor about Israel’s perverse “clear and leave” strategy are valid and compelling. The implication is that, even if the IDF goes into Rafah, doing so won’t result in a lasting victory against Hamas. wapo.st/3UXgz2p

Opinion | Why Israel’s ‘clear and leave’ strategy against Hamas isn’t workingwapo.st U.S. military planners behind the “surge” in Iraq explain how to execute a successful counterinsurgency.

The protesters are repeating the mistakes of the 1960s by letting the most extreme elements define their movement, thereby discrediting their cause among an electorate that is not immersed in the work of Frantz Fanon or Herbert Marcuse. wapo.st/3wpzOrU

Opinion | I’ve read student protesters’ manifestos. This is ugly stuff. Clueless, too.wapo.st The cosplaying pro-Palestinian activists on campuses are repeating the mistakes of the 1960s.

The belated passage of aid for Ukraine reassured US allies that America is back. But they would be well advised to act as though the United States were, in fact, turning its back on the world — because there is a very real risk that could still happen. wapo.st/4dfwnod

Opinion | Despite the Ukraine aid vote, the neo-isolationist threat still loomswapo.st U.S. allies may be relieved by Congress’s action, but they’d be wise to keep strengthening their defenses, given Donald Trump’s possible election next fall.

The good news is that all is far from lost, despite the shamefully long delay in delivering aid and the resulting loss of Ukrainian lives. The new U.S. aid package should come just in time—and not a second too soon—to avert a Ukrainian collapse this year. wapo.st/3W7K8PO

Opinion | Long-awaited U.S. aid should arrive just in time to avert Ukraine’s defeatwapo.st Having exhausted all the other options, the House finally did the right thing.

So much for Biden’s hopes to pivot from the Mideast. The region remains too important and too volatile to ignore. But the events of the past week show that steady US leadership can still help guide the region away from a wider war. bit.ly/3W5yW62

Opinion | Biden’s ‘bear hug’ with Israel pays off with a minimal strike on Iranbit.ly Working alongside Britain, France and Jordan to help Israel defend itself, the Biden administration limited damage from Iran’s attack and prevented a wider war.

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A lot of the current POTUS race narrative is likely being driven by low propensity voters. If you shift from "hasn't voted in last 3 elections" to "has voted in all 3 of last elections" it goes from Trump 44 Biden 26 to Trump 39 Biden 50 abcnews.go.com/538/vote-bac...

Trump’s defeatist “peace plan” will only convince Putin that victory is within his grasp. Given Trump’s long record of revering Putin and reviling Ukraine, a Russian victory might be precisely the outcome Trump is seeking to achieve. wapo.st/4aTL66f

Opinion | Trump’s ‘peace plan’ would mean Ukraine’s defeatwapo.st Why would Vladimir Putin make any concessions now, if the thinks the former president, who reveres him, could very well return to the White House?

The prudent step now would be to avoid escalation, which could embroil the entire region in conflict. More can be done to stymie Iran’s regional designs if Israel draws closer to the Arab states that are also enemies of Iran than if it blindly retaliates. wapo.st/3UgBEEs

Opinion | Now it’s up to Israel: De-escalate or retaliate against Iran?wapo.st Tehran’s barrage of drones and missiles was a face-saving maneuver, successfully repulsed. But the possibility of matters spinning out of control still looms.

My new column. wapo.st/3vJzgwy

Opinion | In the shadow war with Iran, Biden just scored an unheralded victorywapo.st The U.S. military forcefully responded after its outposts in Iran and Syria were attacked. Now, the mullahs in Tehran have backed off.

Israelis and Palestinians desperately need another Anwar Sadat. Such a figure, sadly, is nowhere in sight. Instead, we have two cynical time-servers — Netanyahu and Abbas — and the fanatical hard men of Hamas. bit.ly/4ad5nE7

Opinion | Ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires a Sadat-style leaderbit.ly Israelis are saddled with Netanyahu and Palestinians with Abbas. Both are unpopular and clinging to power. But that can’t last forever.

Putin’s goal is to attain imperial glory for himself as a latter-day czar, no matter the cost to the Russian people. Now, he may try to find some way to pin the Moscow attack on Ukraine and use it to justify further assaults on innocent Ukrainians. wapo.st/4atBnn9

Opinion | Putin fixates on imaginary foes while terrorists attack Moscowwapo.st The Biden administration was right to warn Russia of a potential attack. The U.S. distinguishes between civilians and combatants, even if our enemies don’t.

Problem with loans is that if this is the bill the Houses passed, it will have to go back to the Senate for consideration and delay the aid for possibly months more. Simplest solution is for the House to pass the bill that got 70 votes in the Senate.

Newsflash: If Mike Johnson put a Ukraine aid bill on the floor, it would pass. MAGA bozos get all the attention, but a lot of other Republicans *want* to vote for aid. On today's pod, Rep Brendan Boyle goes deep into these dynamics. You will learn a ton👇 newrepublic.com/article/1799...

Is Mike Johnson Finally Ready to Stick It to MAGA on Ukraine?newrepublic.com The House speaker says he wants to bring Ukraine aid to the floor. There are reasons for serious skepticism—yet one can envision a few scenarios that could unexpectedly come through.

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Finally someone writes this story. Thank you. It is insane that Musk promotes all the crap he does on X while reaping a security clearance and billions. The sooner the US government can divest from this dangerous ass the better.

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🙃 www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump is eyeing Paul Manafort for 2024 campaign rolewww.washingtonpost.com The former campaign manager was pardoned by Trump for bank and tax fraud convictions and accusations he hid millions he made consulting for pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians.

Elon Musk is presiding over a firehose of falsehoods on X about familiar right-wing targets, from undocumented immigrants to “the woke mind virus” to President Biden … while reaping billions from Biden’s administration! wapo.st/3ToRaMS

Opinion | Musk is a MAGA megaphone and a federal contractor. That’s a problem.wapo.st His noxious views and reported drug-taking ought to prompt a rethinking of U.S. defense and intelligence reliance on his services.

Why hasn’t the aid bill for Ukraine passed? The explanation can be summarized in two words: Donald Trump. The Kremlin’s intervention in the 2016 US election might allow Putin to win in Washington a victory his troops could not win on the battlefield. wapo.st/4c6qNUx

Opinion | Trump isn’t just pro-Russia. He’s also anti-Ukraine.wapo.st The former president’s affinity for Vladimir Putin is well-known. Less familiar is Trump’s long record of antagonism toward Ukraine.

Ukraine has proved the naysayers wrong for more than two years and it can continue to do so as long as it receives US aid. But if US aid is cut off, as the MAGA Republicans demand, then their predictions of doom might become a self-fulfilling prophecy. wapo.st/4c0WSNx

Opinion | Ukraine will lose only if MAGA Republicans cut off U.S. aidwapo.st Indications are that Russia can’t keep waging war like this for more than another year. Ukraine just needs to hold out until then. And it can, with U.S. help.

I recently spent a week traveling across Moldova and Ukraine and I came away greatly impressed by UNHCR (@Refugees) efforts to alleviate the refugee crisis created by the Russian invasion. Its work deserves continuing U.S. support. wapo.st/3IflnZS

Opinion | This U.N. agency aiding Ukraine refugees is an unheralded success storywapo.st The United Nations has its problems, but work by its High Commissioner for Refugees has helped avert a massive humanitarian disaster.

Only by defeating Putin’s aggression in Ukraine can we possibly hope to see the emergence of a better, freer Russia—the dream that Navalny gave his life for. bit.ly/3I1XiW9

Opinion | Navalny stood against Putin’s evil. Will the GOP abandon the fight now?bit.ly Putin feels as though he is winning — and thus as though he can get away with murder. Giving that rapacious dictator a sense of impunity is extremely dangerous.

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“Many Ukrainians told us that they are inspired to fight on in part because they know that they are not alone…If the United States were to cut them off, it would be, among other things, a devastating psychological blow.” @maxboot.bsky.social wapo.st/3uwuu52

Opinion | Speaker Johnson should see what I just saw in Ukrainewapo.st In Kharkiv, an elderly woman cried as she described Russia’s invasion. I wished I could tell her that she’s safe now, but the evidence suggests otherwise.

I love this photo of our UNHCR delegation in Ukraine meeting with the governor of Kherson province. Reminds me of the words of the “Star Spangled Banner”: “O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave/O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.” My trip report: wapo.st/3uwCYZW

House Speaker Mike Johnson has never been to Ukraine since the Russian invasion, and has not announced any plans to visit. That worries me. It’s easier to stab people in the back if you’re unwilling to look them in the eye. wapo.st/3uwCYZW

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This is why, as I wrote recently, when it comes to the US election, Europe must hope for the best but prepare for the worst. I have been an Atlanticist all my life, but a US where a majority of voters think Trump is fit to be president will no longer be a reliable ally. www.cer.eu/insights/eur...

This should be the story tomorrow, and every day: The leader of one of America’s two major political parties has just signaled to the Kremlin that if elected, he would not only refuse to defend Europe in World War III, but he would gladly support Vladimir Putin. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Trump Encourages Putin to Attack NATO Memberswww.theatlantic.com At a rally on Saturday, the former president announced he would tell the Russians “to do whatever the hell they want” to states delinquent in their bills.

Truly a pleasure and a privilege to spend the last week traveling across Moldova and Ukraine with a UNHCR delegation to witness the important work that UNHCR (the UN refugee agency) is doing to help the victims of Putin’s unprovoked aggression. Congress must continue to support Ukraine!

The Israeli end game in Gaza remains as opaque as when the war began. Quite simply, Netanyahu refuses to lay out any “day after” strategy because to do so is too politically risky for him. wapo.st/493qkR4

Opinion | Netanyahu’s refusal to plan for the ‘day after’ may doom Israel’s war effortwapo.st The Israeli prime minister can’t seem to think past the current moment

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Elon has only ramped up his toxic cocktail of racism and stupidity since I wrote this piece this morning. In reality, the Biden administration deported 142,000+ immigrants last year -- a record number that Elon actually believes is a drop. And he thinks they're all axe murderers, too.

New post at CAMPAIGN TRAILS on Elon Musk's embrace of the racist Great Replacement Theory: open.substack.com/pub/kevinmkr...

Brand Xopen.substack.com It’s been four months since I left the Nazi bar formerly known as Twitter, but that doesn’t mean I’m not keeping up with news about what’s going on there. Increasingly, it seems, the site isn�...

Thanks to Walter Isaacson for a wonderful conversation on Amanpour & Co. on PBS/CNNI about why it’s imperative to support Ukraine and why Trump’s America First foreign policy is so dangerous. www.pbssocal.org/shows/amanpo...

Max Boot on Trump, Putin and Blocked Ukraine Aidwww.pbssocal.org Max Boot joins the show.

It has become a cliché to say that every election is the most important of our lifetimes, but the looming contest between Biden and Trump really is. This will be a referendum not only on the future of US democracy but also on America’s role in the world. wapo.st/49dpDUV

Opinion | If Trump wins, he will destroy the American-led world orderwapo.st Conventional wisdom says foreign policy doesn’t decide U.S. elections, but the 2024 choice, presumably Biden vs. Trump, has seldom been this scary or stark.