Clouds Over Coffey

Klon Kitchen, The Dispatch’s resident foreign policy maestro, takes control of the Remnant today with ...

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Klon Kitchen, The Dispatch’s resident foreign policy maestro, takes control of the Remnant today with predictably wonky results. His guest is Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute who shares his expertise on national security. Together, they take a deep dive into the ongoing Ukraine conflict, exploring how things have changed since it began and what we can expect in the coming months. What tactics have the Ukrainians been employing? At this point, what is Putin’s goal? And could Russia use a nuclear weapon?

Show Notes:

– Luke’s Hudson Institute webpage

– Klon’s page at The Dispatch

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  1. Avatar photo
    Shannonrobertson903

    This was an excellent conversation. So impressed with Klon and Luke. This is what truly informed consideration of the issues looks like. Our communities need much, much more of this: patient, thorough, current, informed, deliberative exchange. Sincere thanks.

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    Ben Connelly

    An excellent guest hosting job!

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    TJ

    Chock full of content. Klon needs his own podcast.

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    Julie from Texas

    Great episode! Klon should be added to the speed-dial list of guest hosts.

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    Marc Frischhertz

    Luke Coffey strikes me as the kind of person who Tucker and the other pro-Russian right would never have as a guest. He explains America’s interest in terms that are clear, understandable and undeniable.

    If only the Biden admin spox was half as good

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      Klon Kitchen

      Luke would eat Tucker’s lunch!

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  6. linda

    I have been following this war for sometime which is why I listened to the pod.
    If I may, you should have made a case for who the players were and why there was a war. Why does Putin think he has a claim on Ukraine? Why is there disputed land in Ukraine? Why is Putin Crazy Pants and what is his vision for yet again a Greater Russia at the beginning.
    I found the pod very enjoyable. Next time begin on 33 instead of 78. If you get that then you know that I was a child of the Cold War in the 1950's who regularly hid under our desks for bomb drills. They never came so we just switched them up to earthquake drills which did come. I live in earthquake country.

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      BWG

      Good questions, but I think any answers Klon or Luke gave would be at least partly speculation; how can you get inside Putin's head? I can see the motivation (though I stress I do NOT condone) the annexation of Crimea given the ethnic Russian majority there and the port of Sevastopol. No Russian ports are reliably ice-free year-round, as is Sevastopol. The invasion of Ukraine this year seems like a grasp at lost "glory", or as much glory as the Soviet Union could muster 50 years ago. My impression is that Russians are very insecure members of the world community, and this is a failed attempt at demonstrating power they wish they actually possessed. Putin has stated that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was "a disaster" - he clearly yearns for that lost "glory" that never really existed. It's a shame they can't or won't embrace rule-of-law free market capitalism - their country is so full of natural resources and arable land (third in the world) that they really could be a major world player.
      I own a bookshelf of vinyl that I'm quite partial to, though I haven't actually spun any for quite a while. I might've had a few 45's that are long gone - I'm a few years younger and albums took over by the time I had disposable income for that sort of extravagance. I also missed the duck n cover drills, entering kindergarten in '66. I distinctly remember my first grade teacher writing 1968 on the blackboard the first day after Christmas break. Which we still called it back then, despite having a significant Jewish population in the student body, and probably even a few Muslims. That was actual systemic racism, not the fever dreams progressives have these days.

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  7. Payette

    Fantastic discussion!

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  8. Micah.Wiegman

    How reliable are the Russian tactical ballistic missiles that would deliver a nuke? I could imagine a scenario where Ukraine doesn't even know a nuke was launched because the missile isn't different from others launched and the warhead doesn't detonate due to mechanical or maintenance issues. Does Ukraine have a render safe capability?

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    Belt

    Excellent job guys - clear and informative, and well-informed, unlike a lot of other people trying to make sense of this mess.

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  10. P Satter

    Good questions and clear, informative answers. Looking ahead, one wonders what the future of both Putin and Russia's government will be at the end of this?

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