Ben Shapiro interviewed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky late last week and released that interview in two separate episodes in recent days. In the second installment, Shapiro offered his thoughts on Vladimir Putin’s “brain” behind the invasion of Ukraine, Aleksandr Dugin, and linked him to both Tucker Carlson and Vice President JD Vance.
Shapiro explains Dugin’s strategies for how Putin can achieve a greater Russia, saying, “Dugin has laid forth to threaten other rimlands ranging from the Baltics to the Middle East. They will ally themselves with enemies of the United States everywhere. In Foundations of Geopolitics, Alexander Dugin makes special reference to alliance with Iran.”
“In his new book, he speaks highly of a coalition relationship with China. Russia, in short, is not a regional power simply reacting to the supposed aggression of the Atlantisists, a la Jeffrey Sachs or John Mearsheimer. That is mere excuse-making,” Shapiro continued, adding:
Russia under Vladimir Putin is an ambitious regime that sees itself as a civilizational power with a messianic mission cleverly planned and steadfastly pursued. In this battle, once again, Dugin counts, he said this in ’97, on the help of the very isolationists, he said that Russia should foster in that book, “Foundations of Geopolitics.” Among the people that he name checks in his new book are Tucker Carlson and JD Vance, his ideological allies.”
And Tucker is Dugin’s ally here. I mean, there’s just no question about this. Tucker literally had on Dugin last year on his show and praised him and then refused to ask him a single question about Russia or Russian ambitions because that might burst the viewer’s bubble.
Shapiro then shows a clip of Carlson saying, “So I’ve asked you no questions about Russia or Russian politics that I’m not going to because I think it’s so interesting to see your perspective on countries that you don’t live in because we do gain insight, I think, from the view of outsiders.”
“So what does all this mean for the current Ukraine negotiations?” Shapiro then asks, adding:
Well, it means that America cannot trust Russian promises, especially absent security guarantees. Security guarantees are a must.
Acknowledgement of territorial integrity by the Ukrainians does literally nothing to guarantee the safety of the rest of Ukraine. The best that can be hoped for in this deal is an armistice that hardens into a permanent cold peace. And that requires a different strategy than yelling at Volodymyr Zelensky or Vladimir Putin.
It is not a strategy of carrots to Vladimir Putin. Carrots are not going to satisfy his appetite. It’s a strategy of carrots combined with intransigence, total intransigence, a Cold War strategy. America stood down the Russians for half a century at far greater expenditure and cost than what we’ve spent in Ukraine. That doesn’t mean the United States should shoulder the main burden of what’s happening. Europe should, obviously.
And it certainly doesn’t mean US boots on the ground. That’s unnecessary, and the Ukrainians aren’t asking for it. But in an era of rising power in China, rising aggressiveness in Russia, rising nuclearization in Iran, America cannot afford a weak approach that withdraws from the world, decouples from allies, shrugs its shoulders as the world is carved up by our geopolitical opposition.
Watch the clip above and listen to the full episode here.