On 12 May 2022 — shortly after the Ukraine War began — I participated in a high-profile Munk Debate in Toronto that focused on Russia’s responsibility for the war. Stephen Walt and I were on one side; Michael McFaul and Radoslaw Sikorski were on the other side.
I recently (1 February 2024) did a follow-up interview with Munck reflecting on the debate and the present situation in Ukraine.
Below is both the recent interview and the original debate.
https://omny.fm/shows/the-munk-debates-podcast/munk-dialogue-with-john-mearsheimer-why-ukraine-ne
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&sca_esv=21ebcb35741cea19&hl=en&gl=us&q=Munk+Debate+on+Russia+ukraine&tbm=vid&source=lnms&prmd=nvisbmtz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjY6-Kyj5yEAxUWmIkEHXCwCsoQ0pQJegQIChAB&biw=1440&bih=539&dpr=1#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:db745d41,vid:EhgWLmd7mCo,st:0
Ukraine is a Moribund Nation whose Flower (i.e. young men) have been Slaughtered *on an industrial scale.* The time has come to Make Peace, regardless of the cost. The reason is simple:
Ultimately a Nation is its people. & if the people are LOST (via Slaughter, Emigration, etc.), then the Nation is likewise lost & Dies a Brutal Death. Such an outcome is happening right now, before our very eyes, in the Ukrainian Nation. 'Make Peace, You FOOLs!' is the only meaningful slogan left.
The behavior of the US regarding Ukraine has been disgusting. I am ethnically Ukrainian and I have to stop myself from thinking about what half a million dead men means. Each of those men would have had children, who in turn would have had children. Millions of Ukrainian lives over generations will never come to be. This is unspeakably evil.