“They’re Not Like Us”: Michael McFaul on Autocrats vs. Democrats and the Fight for the Twenty-First Century | Peter Robinson | Hoover Institution
About this episode
Michael McFaul discusses his book on the differences between autocrats and democrats and the implications for global politics.
Former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul returns to Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson to discuss his new book, Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder. McFaul explains why Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and today’s autocratic leaders fundamentally do not think like we do—and why that misunderstanding has shaped some of America’s most consequential foreign-policy mistakes. Drawing on decades of scholarship and firsthand experience inside the Kremlin, McFaul traces Russia’s post–Cold War slide back into autocracy; challenges the claim that NATO expansion caused the rupture with Moscow; and argues that the true threat to authoritarian regimes is democratic example rather than Western military power. He examines the war in Ukraine, its implications for Taiwan, the limits of transactional diplomacy with ideologues like Putin, and the enduring lessons of Cold War statecraft. He also reflects on his unlikely journey from Butte, Montana, to Spaso House —the Moscow home of the U.S. ambassador to Russia— and why he remains convinced that democracy, however fragile, is still the West’s greatest strategic advantage. Subscribe to Uncommon Knowledge…
People in this episode
Host: Peter Robinson
Guest: Michael McFaul
Topics covered
- autocracy
- democracy
- foreign policy
- Russia
- China
- Ukraine
- Cold War
Keywords
- autocrats
- democrats
- foreign policy
- Putin
- Xi Jinping
- NATO
- Ukraine
- Taiwan
- Cold War
- democracy
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Hoover Institution
Places: Russia, China, America, Ukraine, Taiwan, Butte, Montana, Spaso House
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