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Garry Kasparov Profile picture
Garry Kasparov
@Kasparov63
VP of @WLCongress. Chair of @Renew_Democracy, board of @HRF. Activist, author, speaker, 13th World Chess Champion. Substack: https://t.co/vgzeoFSZPx
309 subscribers
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.
Apr 23 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Countries that recognize Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea: Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Syria, Afghanistan, North Korea. The US State Dept site (for now): "The US govt recognizes Crimea is part of Ukraine; it does not & will not recognize the purported annexation of Crimea." Image Trump is so eager to please Putin that he votes with Russia in the UN to avoid even condemning Russia's war of aggression. Doing so in the name of peace is even more pathetic and revolting. Surrendering to a hostile invader only guarantees further aggression.
Apr 14 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Trump again rushes to humiliate his sycophants and defenders with a full-throated embrace of Russia, the day after it murdered 30 civilians in Sumy, Ukraine with ballistic missiles on Palm Sunday. Where are the condemnations and resignations of the GOP who spoke out yesterday? Did Biden launch those missiles? Zelenskyy? Nor did either of them start this war, but you couldn’t tell that from Trump's insane ravings. No mention of Putin, of course, who launched this attack the day after Trump's envoy personally kissed his ass, just to show who’s in charge.
Apr 13 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Sycophants and conspiracy loons praising the ass-kissing of a Russian mafia dictator by a US president and his envoy. This is Trump's America, and they want you to be as proud of it as they are. And on the day of Russia's bloodiest civilian attack of the year in Ukraine. Much as Biden's "as long as it takes" was slippery rhetoric to avoid committing to Ukrainian victory, the Trump admin's "working for peace" is a merely a mask for collaborating with Russia to try to force Ukraine to surrender and be destroyed. Capitulation is not negotiation.
Apr 3 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
During Trump‘s first term, I pointed out that anyone skeptical of what propaganda could do in an authoritarian state like Russia only needed to look at how easily one cable channel and some talk radio hosts flipped the GOP into worshiping a reality show host and hating the FBI. Surveys follow the Dear Leader's agenda with terrible predictability. Russians had balanced views of the United States & NATO and were positive on the European Union until it suited Putin to make enemies out of them one by one. Public opinion quickly followed the propaganda line.
Mar 27 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
🎯 Ceasefires and negotiations are a way of telling Russia you are weak. Dictators act only from strength and assume others do the same. If you wanted them to stop and were strong enough to stop them, you would. If you don't, it's a green light. Realize this is not a failure of Trump's negotiations. This is the actual point of Trump's negotiations, to protect Russia & Putin and to divide Ukraine into pieces and assets. There is no longer a charitable interpretation. It's Russia & USA vs Ukraine and Europe.
Mar 26 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
My new op-ed in @Welt on the need for Europe to prepare itself to wage war--without Trump's pro-Kremlin America. This will require matching Ukraine's level of courage, and now. | Garri Kasparow: "Europa muss bereit sein, Krieg zu führen" welt.de/debatte/plus25… This WH's contempt for Europe was again on display in the "secret" chat. Trump is fulfilling everything on Putin's wishlist, so Europe needs a checklist to stand up to Russian aggression. It cannot wait and hope for when Trump & his gang leave power.
Mar 25 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
How far down is the Trump admin on the autocracy fuckup checklist? Deny, lie, attack the source, attack the media, say it was someone else, say it was no big deal, say it was a brilliant maneuver, boast about it, create new scandal. Let’s see how good at Putinization they are. Never admit error, never apologize, always double down, always counterattack, always distract. It’s better to be twice a liar and do more damage than for Dear Leader to show weakness by admitting error or apologizing to those harmed.
Mar 16 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
A core point we’ve been trying to make for years is that "let Ukraine win" hasn’t been tried yet. From Obama’s naive peace-mongering to Biden & Europe's love of the status quo to Trump’s open embrace of Russia's goals, Ukraine winning simply hasn’t been given a chance. The absurd idea of Russian invincibility was collapsed by Prighozin’s mutiny, Ukraine’s Kursk op, Russia's need for Iranian & NK weapons and even NK soldiers, and the tiny amount of UKR territory taken against massive RU casualties. All despite regularly starving UKR of support.
Mar 16 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
This whole conversation takes place in an alternate universe where Russia didn’t invade Ukraine unprovoked, bombard Ukrainian cities to the ground, commit thousands of documented war crimes, or couldn’t end the war tomorrow if Putin chose to. Trump makes demands of Ukraine and even removes resources vital for its defense. Russia demands impossible concessions that would become the end of Ukraine as an independent nation. Meanwhile, no demands are made of Russia, no concessions asked.
Mar 13 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
The question is if Witkoff is there to represent American interests or Trump and Musk’s personal interests. Is this to negotiate a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, or more strategizing on how to help Russia take over Ukraine? Putin doesn’t care what he’s saying, btw. This isn’t a calibrated or as he put it "nuanced" statement. It’s a middle finger, making demands on Ukraine, agreeing to nothing. He’s getting what he wants already and Trump is not applying real consequences to anyone but Ukraine.
Mar 11 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Putin doesn’t want a ceasefire or peace or anything like it. He started this unprovoked war & he needs constant conflict to distract from his disastrous rule in Russia. He’ll accept the destruction of Ukraine and a pause to rearm, but this is a permanent wartime footing. Escalation is also required. Big wars that require big sacrifices from a repressed citizenry require big enemies. If they aren’t available, you have to make them. This is why Putin has always talked about fighting Europe, the US and NATO, not just Ukraine.
Mar 7 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Talk is cheap. And has there ever been a Trump statement that acknowledges Russia is the invader and could end the war by going home? Ukraine could "get to the table" & Russia would blow up the table. Limiting Ukraine's ability to defend only encourages Russia to keep attacking. Russia’s latest massive attacks against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure came right after Trump limited Ukraine’s ability to defend itself and threats to withdraw aid completely. Putin sees weakness to be exploited so why would he stop?
Mar 6 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
America’s credibility as an ally has degraded to the level of Russia and China with every retreat over four administrations. As Truman warned, failure to deter is what leads to bigger wars. If your enemies don’t believe you will use force, you eventually have to. The president sets foreign policy, but when it's so blatantly contrary to long-standing US policy, values, and interests in the short and long term, there must be more resistance than social media statements of concern. Image
Mar 5 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
It felt like a curiously Soviet entrance, as if every Republican there knew someone would be going over video to see who was clapping hardest and longest, but maybe my imagination... Never mind, Trump is already into the "enemies of the people" material, so my original diagnosis was accurate. Will he be announcing record grain harvests next?