I stand with @Renew_Democracy Fellow @EnesFreedom! I know something about risking your career to do the right thing and that's what Enes did. He spoke out in defense of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and others who don't have a voice. Even if we don't know exactly why he was waived, 1/5
it fits a pattern of the @NBA kowtowing to China's dictatorship. They brought the hammer down on the @HoustonRockets GM after he expressed support for Hong Kong protests. They've bent over backwards to appease the CCP, and this sets a dangerous precedent. 2/5
We used to believe that open societies would export freedom & democratic values, such appeasement shows that we've begun importing authoritarianism. Unfortunately, the @NBA isn't alone. @Disney thanked CCP-aligned groups in Xinjiang who are committing genocide against Uyghurs 3/5
.@Apple, @YouTube, many in Hollywood, etc are censoring themselves to appease dictatorships. @EnesFreedom took a huge personal risk to speak out against dictators, and I hope that more people in the Free World will do the same. #HereRightMatters 4/5
It’s also important to remember that one can be supportive of @EnesFreedom without fanning the flames of domestic polarization or comparing him (favorably or otherwise) to other activists. We should judge his activism on its own merits. 5/5

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More from @AVindman

Feb 9
I appreciate the sentiment @SenSanders, but can’t overlook the contradictions. “We must do everything possible to avoid an enormously destructive war in Ukraine” necessitates using hard power (all means) to attempt to deter a devastating war. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Your rejection of hard power is also inconsistent with your call to accept geopolitical realities, i.e. “spheres of influence.”

And, casting aside self-determination is in deep contradictions with progressive beliefs.
A rejection of Ukraine’s NATO membership (not even a possibility for years) doesn’t end this crisis. Putin wants Ukraine. Putin will force the issue, even if the U.S. rejects progressive principles such as the “Open Door” policy.
Read 5 tweets
Jan 21
US, NATO & Russia have not moved closer to a diplomatic solution. This Russian military buildup is unprecedented and even includes Belarus. A massive offensive is coming. How could this play out?
Read my full take w/ @DomCruzBus:
foreignaffairs.com/articles/ukrai…
1/
There are many possible scenarios. Something short of an offensive might include recognition or annexation of the occupied Donbas. In a limited operation, Russia could seize more of the Donbas & major cities like Mariupol or Odessa, and establish a “land bridge” to Crimea. 2/
But these options would be unlikely to force diplomatic capitulation. They would entail costly urban warfare & long-term occupation of Ukr w/ insurgency. The Kremlin wouldn’t regain influence or control over Ukr domestic & foreign policy, and Ukr wouldn’t become a failed state.3/
Read 10 tweets
Jan 13
Now what? Diplomacy looks to be a dead-end & the U.S. & West have done little on deterrence. Russia's offensive against Ukraine will be the largest in Europe since World War II & there is nothing effective being done to avert it. Start working contingencies & arm Ukraine.
The USG should have started with an engagement (diplomacy) & pressure track. When paired, the pressure track would aid the possibility of dissuading the coming Russian offensive. Instead, the West went all-in on diplomacy, absent a display of hard power. It was destined to fail.
The pressure track, still has a small, possibly of being effective. The intent is to avoid the kind of war that is likely to drag the U.S. into a conflict (e.g. World War II). What to do: 1) Send troops to Eastern Europe to reassure allies and help with refugees coming from Ukr.
Read 5 tweets
Dec 10, 2021
Supporting Ukraine is smart strategy. A prosperous Ukraine can compel change in Russia and upend the convergence of America’s two most dangerous adversaries. I explain the logic via this @NYTOpinion nytimes.com/2021/12/10/opi…
A prosperous Ukraine buttressed by American support makes an authoritarian Russia unviable in the long term.
Ukraine’s success would upend Russia’s irredentist aspirations for empire and highlight the Kremlin’s failures, just as West Germany’s achievements once did in comparison to the totalitarian East German state during the Cold War.
Read 15 tweets
Oct 13, 2021
Thank you for writing this piece, @andymilburn8

“As for what the country wants, it must surely include general officers who haven’t surrendered their moral autonomy to the political administration of the day”
“Generals that have thought deeply about what their obligation to the nation really entails…
Understanding it demands intellectual and moral rigor. I would guess that these are the qualities that America expects of its generals.”
“Resignation won’t atone for lives lost, or the debacle that American involvement in Afghanistan became, but it would at least demonstrate that these men understand the ethics of their profession. It would help calibrate the moral compass of thousands of officers beneath them.”
Read 6 tweets
Sep 30, 2021
Excellent and thought provoking read.

Don't let the Afghanistan generals deflect, displace, or dissemble – Responsible Statecraft responsiblestatecraft.org/2021/09/30/don…
From Steve Katz, @steveLkatz
“In the just war tradition, describing a Sisyphean strategy and then attempting to execute it is an immoral act. However, even in this circumstance, senior officers are still empowered with moral agency and a choice:”
“they can either stay in command and accept some of the moral liability in waging an unjust war or they can request to be re-assigned, resign, or retire to avoid this moral stain. Over the course of the war, no generals pursued the latter option.”
Read 5 tweets

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