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Michael McFaul Profile picture
@McFaul
Sep 10, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read • Read on X
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When I served as U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Putin's propagandists made the crazy claim that Obama sent me to Moscow to foment revolution. They cited this academic article from 2006 as "proof" that I was a professional "revolutionary." journalofdemocracy.org/articles/trans… THREAD 1/
Now, pro-Trump conspiracy theorists are making the same crazy claim about me, only this time my objective is a color revolution against the U.S. government! And now they too are citing the same @JoDemocracy article as evidence! Coincidence or coordination? 2/
Glad to be expanding readership of the Journal of Democracy -- one of the most important journals in my profession -- among Trump fans. But writing as an academic about democratic breakthroughs or color revolutions does not make one a professional revolutionary. 3/
And on academic footnote -- revolutions only occur in autocracies, against dictators. (There is a big academic literature on this subject.) The United States is still a democracy. 4/
To state the obvious, I do not support revolutions or coups. Im a militant defender of democracy. American voters - not Putin or anyone else - should decide who will be president next year (but our 2 million soldiers, CIA agents, diplomats, etc. get to vote too). 5/
As I wrote a few months ago, "Trump and Biden must pledge publicly and unequivocally that they will accept the results of an election, broadly judged to have been free and fair." So should Trump & Biden supporters. 6/ END THREAD.
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…

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More from @McFaul

Michael McFaul Profile picture
Mar 2
On the comparison between Bush's war against Iraq in 2003 and Trump's war against Iran this week, there are some important differences. THREAD 1/
Bush tried to convince the UN Security Council to support the invasion. In doing so, the Bush team had to spell out the reasons for war.

Trump did not. 2/
Bush convinced the Senate of the need to go to war. We had a big debate. And then an overwhelming majority voted in favor of war.

Trump did not. 3/
Read 5 tweets
Michael McFaul Profile picture
Feb 28
This moment -- our declaration of war with Iran tonight to achieve regime change -- reminds me of the beginning of our invasion of Iraq in 2003, but with 4 big differences. THREAD 1/
First, Bush and team tried to convince the UN Security Council to support military intervention. Trump did not try. 2/
Second, Bush obtained support from the US Senate for the invasion. 77 senators voted for the use of force; 23 voted no. Trump did not even try to get a vote of support. 3/
Read 5 tweets
Michael McFaul Profile picture
Dec 1, 2025
"Skeptics argue that Putin will never accept Ukraine’s joining NATO. But Ukraine and NATO members do not need to ask for Putin’s permission. Putin has no place in negotiations between Ukraine and the alliance. Allowing him to disrupt or put off these deliberations would be a sign of American weakness not only to Moscow but also to Beijing." THREAD 1/
"These skeptics also grossly overestimate Putin’s concern about Ukraine’s joining NATO. Putin did not invade Ukraine in 2022 to stop NATO’s expansion. In the run-up to 2022, NATO membership for Ukraine was a distant dream, and everyone in Brussels, Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington knew it. Putin’s invasion had other objectives: to unite Ukrainians and Russians into one Slavic nation, overthrow Ukraine’s democratic and Western-oriented government, and demilitarize the country. Putin barely raised an eyebrow when Finland and Sweden joined NATO in 2023 and 2024, even though Finland shares an 830-mile border with Russia. His war has driven Ukraine ever closer to NATO, not pulled it away." 2/
"But if the Russians insist that Ukraine’s joining the alliance threatens Russia—and they will—Trump can explain to Putin that NATO membership will constrain Ukraine. Zelensky, of course, will never formally recognize the Russian annexation of occupied Ukrainian territory. Yet the possibility of NATO membership could lead him to agree to a formula in which Kyiv accepts that it will seek the reunification of Ukraine only through peaceful means. West Germany and South Korea agreed to similar terms in return for defense treaties with NATO and the United States." 3/
Read 4 tweets
Michael McFaul Profile picture
Oct 20, 2025
"It is hard to ignore the growing sense of deterministic resignation among foreign policy leaders in the United States and worldwide about the end of the American era." THREAD 1/
"Trump’s success at the ballot box has led many former internationalists to conclude that American leaders have lost faith in global engagement, multilateralism, and democracy promotion, and that U.S. voters would rather turn inward and go it alone—especially when it comes to trade and immigration." 2/
"A new conventional wisdom is settling in, which takes as a given that Americans no longer care about cooperating with allies, participating in international institutions, or engaging on moral issues, such as unjust wars, imperial annexation, democracy, or human rights. Some in sorrow and others in joy have concluded that, after a century of global leadership, Americans are reverting to their natural and traditional state of isolationism." 3/
Read 5 tweets
Michael McFaul Profile picture
Jun 22, 2025
George H.W. Bush had the support of both the US Congress (majority votes in both houses) and the UNSC (UNSCR 678) before he launched his attack against Iraq in 1991. THREAD 1/
Clinton won the support of NATO allies, who voted unanimously to endorse US air strikes against Serbia in 1999. 2/
George W. Bush had the support of both the Senate (77-23) and the House (296-133) to invade Iraq in 2003. 3/
Read 7 tweets
Michael McFaul Profile picture
Mar 10, 2025
"After just a few weeks in office, the list of Trump’s concessions to Russia is truly extraordinary. It includes (1) intelligence sharing with Ukraine has been discontinued; (2) USAID assistance for Ukraine, including funding to repair its energy grid and for anti-corruption programs, has been discontinued;" 1/THREAD
"(3) U.S. funding for Russian civil society and independent media operating in exile has been stopped; (4) diplomatic relations with Moscow have been restored, beginning with a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov in Saudi Arabia a few weeks ago;" 2/
"and (5) in radical reversal of past policy, the United States voted with Russia, Belarus, North Korea, and a handful of other rogue autocracies against a UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine." 3/
Read 7 tweets

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