And just like that, Vladimir Putin’s international isolation is over.
Despite being indicted for war crimes by the international criminal court, Putin joined North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the guests of honor at a massive military parade hosted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The spectacle in China, attended by more than 25 foreign heads of state or government including the Iranian president, came just weeks after Putin arrived to a literal red carpet welcome in Alaska for a summit with US President Donald Trump.
Xi’s big parade also took place just days before the United States cut key Russia-related security assistance to Europe.
Has the West’s three-year effort to isolate Putin failed? Is the emerging axis of autocrats consolidating as the democratic West is fracturing? What does it all mean for Russia’s war against Ukraine? On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore dives into these and other questions with former U.S. State Department official Max Bergmann, the director of the Europe and Russia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Enjoy…
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SHOW NOTES
Max Bergmann’s recently published work can be accessed here, here, and here.
The Power Vertical Newsletter on Substack can be accessed here. Recently published work by Brian Whitmore can be accessed here, here, here, and here. Please follow Brian Whitmore and The Power Vertical on Bluesky@powervertical.bsky.social