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Garry Kasparov Profile picture
Garry Kasparov
@Kasparov63
VP of @WLCongress. Founder & Chair of @Renew_Democracy. Activist, speaker, 13th World Chess Champion. Autocracy in America podcast: https://t.co/xemlxTR3IN
311 subscribers
Aug 30 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
What a joke. Trump has no plan for ending the war because his only idea is to give Putin everything he asks, which wouldn’t end the war at all. Europe and Ukraine know this. More importantly, Putin knows this and sees no reason to stop the killing he started. Putin started the war in 2014, expanded it in 2022, and Russia has intensified attacks on Ukrainian civilians every day of Trump's time in office. The motives Putin had to try to destroy Ukraine are still there while no new reasons for him to stop have been created. Simple.
Aug 14 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I'm afraid you're too good for the brave new Putinized world of Trump, Mike! This is a business meeting, no foreign policy expertise required. Witkoff & Bessent, Russian finance guys, that's where the action is. Putin may toss in some Ukraine for show, at best. Everything Trump does is about Trump. Not Ukraine, not America. This hasty and otherwise pointless and destructive meeting is no exception. It's for the Dear Leader's monetization and glorification. Rubio had to be there for token camouflage only.
Aug 14 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Totally misunderstanding Witkoff's mission and Trump's entire agenda. Witkoff's only job is to make the most profitable deal for his boss, and he's competent at that. The media is so used to standard narratives of national interests that they force everything into that framework even when it doesn't fit. Dictators like Putin and would-be autocrats like Trump don't care about "Russia" or "America", only their personal power, wealth, and image.
Aug 10 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Nothing is honorable about rewarding the aggressor & condemning the victim to occupation, torture, and death. And Ukraine doesn’t have to forcibly expel every Russian soldier from its land when hitting Russian targets + allies destroying the RU economy will force them to leave. "Ukraine can’t win" has been the mantra of Kremlin propagandists for years now. As if Ukrainians needed to march on Moscow, or send out meat waves of infantry like Russia does. Ukraine *can* win, by making continuing the war more dangerous for Putin’s grasp on power than leaving.
Aug 7 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
The Russian economy is collapsing, Ukrainian strikes are crippling RU energy & will only expand, and all Putin has left is terror attacks on civilians. What to do? Call Trump to the rescue! Get sanctions lifted, stop UKR strikes, marginalize Europe, kill more innocents. 1/7 If Senator Graham has any decency left he will hide in a dark corner and never speak again. Rubio is a Catholic who believes in Heaven and Hell, no? The only question left is the price. How much is Putin paying for the US to betray its allies, values, and its own security? 2/7
Aug 1 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
For over a century, US power, including hard power, was a force for good in the world. Yes, I said it. My latest Autocracy In America guest @AmbJohnBolton also says it, with plenty to back it up. From Iran to Russia to Hamas, what Trump's isolationism gets wrong. Link 👇 Image Listen or read my latest podcast episode of Autocracy In America with Ambassador John Bolton, who still believes America can, and should, be a force for democracy in the world. theatlantic.com/podcasts/archi…
Jul 28 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Some good material as usual, but do not give so much credit to the Western leaders Putin evaluated correctly. They were ready to concede Ukraine. Putin's big mistake of underestimating Ukraine and Ukrainians is one Biden and others made as well, and it all comes back to that. Also, Putin is a KGB man, not a military leader, and his war on the free world started long before 2014, in 2005. His methods changed as his sense of impunity grew in the face of Western weakness. He was building political & economic leverage before using force.
Jul 19 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Echoing what I and so many other dissidents in repressive regimes ask of the mighty leaders of the free world: If you don't want to help us, fine, but stop helping our oppressors. Stop giving dictators money, trade, political normalization. It was easy to critique the failings of our fractious democratic opposition in Russia. But meanwhile, Putin had summits and posed for photos with G7 leaders as he destroyed civil society. They made trade deals as he took over the largest corporations & spread corruption west.
Jul 12 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
I remember. I don’t know who he’s talking about, but it doesn’t matter. From using tariffs to attack Brazil to defend a personal ally to threatening American citizens, Trump is confirming what we warned, that he will do whatever he is allowed to do. The GOP will downplay, again. As I wrote about Putin 20 yrs ago, and Trump last month, an autocrat's illegal threats are tests. How hard is the pushback and from whom? What happens when the things people say Trump can't do or would never really do actually happen? Autocracy isn’t built in a day.
Jul 10 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Absolutely. But before the Marshall Plan, there was the Patton plan and the Eisenhower plan of kicking the invader’s ass. You can’t rebuild while Russia is still bombing the hell out of Ukrainian civilians every day, and they won’t stop until they are stopped. Here’s a "Marshall plan" Kellogg should know: "We must proceed in the most businesslike manner possible to make this war so terrible to the enemy, so overwhelming in character, that never again can a small group of dictators find a sufficient following to destroy the peaceful security of a civilized world."—Gen GC Marshall, Speech to the American Legion, Sept. 21, 1943
Jul 4 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
July 4 is about 1776, and I’m fond of posting quotes from and about the Founding Fathers, who hindsight confirms as the greatest collection of talent, knowledge, and courage ever assembled. But this year I’m starting with 1788, and Federalist Paper 69. guides.loc.gov/federalist-pap… In it, and the subsequent Papers, Alexander Hamilton enumerates the differences between the US presidency and the monarchy. That is, why the American president is not a king, and how his power is constrained by law in many ways a king's or despot's is not.
Jul 2 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Good comparison, because a military is what Trump wants. His own personal federal National Guard. It's called Rosgvardiya in Russia, or call it a praetorian guard or gestapo. ICE will be the most powerful military force on the ground in the country, under the command of the DOJ. Every Republican who voted for this will be guilty when this force is used against American citizens. He's already talking about deporting them. It will begin with "subversive elements," and "enemies of the people," as it always does.
Jun 28 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
I encourage you to see the reader comments on Mamdani and socialism and my responses below. A few summary remarks for those who have never experienced socialism, let alone communism, and why it's been a siren song for idealists & a Trojan horse for authoritarians for a century. "Socialism" has become a talisman for the left in the free world, everything they like from public education to healthcare. But even the most robust welfare states in democracies were built on the spectacular success of capitalism. Don't kill the golden goose to get to the eggs.
Jun 25 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Socialism is like polio, it comes back when people forget about the horrible damage it did last time. Talking about socialism is a luxury paid for by the successes of capitalism. As I wrote in 2016:

"A popular rebuttal is to invoke the socialist leanings of several European countries with high living standards, especially in Scandinavia. Why can’t America be more like happy Denmark, with its high taxes and giant public sector, or at least more like France? Even the more pro-free-market United Kingdom has national health care, after all. First off, comparing relatively small, homogeneous populations to the churning, ocean-spanning American giant is rarely useful. And even the most socialist of the European countries only became wealthy enough to embrace redistribution after free-market success made them rich. Still, why cannot America follow this path if that is what the people want? What is the problem if American voters are willing to accept higher taxes in exchange for greater security in the embrace of the government?

The answer takes us back to all those inventions America has produced decade after decade. As long as Europe had America taking risks, investing ambitiously, attracting the world’s dreamers and entrepreneurs, and yes, being unequal, it could benefit from the results without making the same sacrifices. Add to that the incalculable windfall of not having to spend on national defense thanks to America’s massive investment in a global security umbrella. America doesn’t have the same luxury of coasting on the ambition and sacrifice of another country."
Jun 12 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
To paraphrase Archimedes, give Trump a lever against Russia and he’ll move the deadline! Graham's "overwhelming support" for this sanctions bill is becoming Trump’s "two more weeks" when it comes to action against Russia. Putin clearly doesn’t think they’ll really do anything—other than reduce aid to Ukraine, which they actually did.
Jun 10 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Events taking shape in California can be an example for the nation to follow, or they can be the harbinger of a long, hot summer. Do protesters want change for the better or just to help Trump by trying to rule the ashes? Link below. 👇 Image My piece on the LA protests and how Trump's opponents can respond and join me + @UrielEpshtein today @ 5pm ET/2pm PT LIVE at The Next Move from @Renew_Democracy. Read + subscribe below. thenextmove.org/p/i-resisted-p…
Jun 9 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Normalizing military in the streets, masked agents grabbing people, and everything being an emergency that only the president can deal with by force are all part of the authoritarian playbook. As I wrote months ago: The Democrats seem to think they, and the country, can wait to see what happens in the 2026 midterms. That’s not how this works. There will be fake and real crises every day, each one a power grab, a breaking & bending of laws and norms, all in the name of national security.
May 20 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
I summarized the Trump-Putin call before it happened, to recap: Trump didn't pressure Russia or ask for any concessions & Putin didn't offer any. Putin agreed to keep murdering Ukrainian civilians and Trump agreed to keep pressuring Ukraine to surrender so he can call it peace. Trump proposed a ceasefire, Ukraine agreed. Putin told him to fuck off. Trump fucked off. Trump, Rubio and Vance all now saying the "punishment" for Russia for continuing the war it started will be for the United States to walk away & do nothing, i.e. what Putin wanted.
May 14 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Trump is putting the US presidency on the level of thugs and dictators and arguing that America should be no better than terror sponsors and genocidal invaders. Abandoning values & idealism isn’t pragmatic or realistic. It’s opportunistic capitulation to our worst selves. I wrote about this strain of amoral isolationism in Winter Is Coming, invoking Soviet dissidents who saw its failures and pernicious effects clearly. Abandoning the hallowed goal of universal human rights and liberty isn’t effective even if you don’t care about good and evil. Image
Apr 27 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
This is why Putin is so desperate to get Trump to push through a Ukrainian surrender deal that he can say makes him the big winner. Ukraine winning doesn't mean attacking Russia, only defending its territory. The US not helping Ukraine is bad, but just don't help Russia. We said as much about the Russian democratic opposition to Putin nearly 20 years ago. Stopping him was a fight for Russians, but even if you weren't going to help us, stop helping him crush Russian civil society by pretending he wasn't a dictator. They did not stop.
Apr 24 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Refusing to acknowledge the maximalist nature of demagogues and autocrats is why democracies are so bad at resisting them. Acting like MAGA is going to follow the rules of free and fair elections in 2028 (with or without Trump) is a fantasy. 2026 is already in grave danger. As with most of Trump‘s projection—accusing his enemies of his own crimes, flaws, & failings—his beloved big lie about the 2020 election being stolen paves the way for his own abuses. "They did it to us first" resentment is one of the core principles of autocratic movements.