TMR 280 : Dr Paul Craig Roberts : On the Ukraine Crisis 2022

“Lies are being turned into truth, and fiction is being turned into fact.”—PCR

We are joined once again by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, former US Assistant Secretary to the Treasury for Economic Policy, for an in-depth interview on the current Ukraine Crisis. In this conversation, recorded on 22 March 2022, Dr Roberts shares with us his perspective on the ongoing Crisis, setting the tragic events in their historical, geographical and political contexts.

[It is anticipated that this will be the first in a short series of interviews/conversations on the Ukraine Crisis, the purpose of which will be to sample the opinions of various guests on this troubling and difficult-to-interpret conflict. Next time we shall be speaking to Adeyinka Makinde.]

“In addition to having held numerous senior academic positions in universities, Dr. Roberts was an associate editor and columnist for The Wall Street Journal, and was appointed by US President Reagan as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy during Reagan’s first term in office, following which he served as a consultant to both the US Department of Defense and the US Department of Commerce. Dr. Roberts is now the Chairman of the The Institute for Political Economy.“

HQ audio:

MQ audio:

https://themindrenewed.com/interviews/2022/22-interviewnotes/1513-int-205n
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Items of Particular Note

• “NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard“, US National Security Archive, George Washington University (12 December 2017) (Wayback Machine capture)
• “Unanimously Adopting Resolution 2202 (2015), Security Council Calls on Parties to Implement Accords Aimed at Peaceful Settlement in Eastern Ukraine“, United Nations (17 February 2015)
• Transcript of Putin’s 2007 Munich Speech (https://web.archive.org/web/20220331032613/http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/24034)
• William M Arkin, “Putin’s Bombers Could Devastate Ukraine But He’s Holding Back. Here’s Why“, Newsweek (22 March 2022)
• Joe Lauria, “Pentagon Drops Truth Bombs to Stave Off War With Russia“, Consortium News (23 March 2022)
• Interview with retired US diplomat Charles Freeman, The Grayzone (22 March 2022) (https://odysee.com/@TheGrayzone:c/us-fighting-russia-‘to-the-last:7)
• “Why Is Russia Invading Ukraine”, RealLifeLore YouTube channel (26 February 2022) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If61baWF4GE)
• “NATO-Georgia Exercise 2022 wraps up in Georgia“, SHAPE NATO (25 March 2022)
• “Kremlin Fears ‘Color Revolution’ in Kazakhstan“, Voice of America (07 January 2022)

Other items mentioned in  / relevant to the conversation

• TMR 066 : Dr Paul Craig Roberts (2014) : Ukraine, Neocons and Armageddon
• “A BRIC House and an International Dollar Default by the United States“, MishTalk.com (14 March 2022)
• “Will Finland and Sweden join NATO now?“, Atlantic Council (03 March 2022)
• “Ukraine’s National Militia: ‘We’re not neo-Nazis, we just want to make our country better’ “, The Guardian (13 March 2018)
• “Ukraine may seek nuclear weapons if left out of NATO: Diplomat“, Al Jazeera (16 April 2021)
• “Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call“, BBC News (07 February 2014)
• Robert Parry, “The Ukraine Mess That Nuland Made“, Truthout.org (15 July 2015)
• “Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine“, The Nation (22 February 2019)
• “Minimum Requirements for NATO Membership“, US Department of State Archive (Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs, June 30, 1997)
• Galen Carpenter, “Many predicted Nato expansion would lead to war. Those warnings were ignored“, The Guardian (28 February 2022)
• “Far-right group at heart of Ukraine protests meet US senator“, Channel 4 News (16 December 2013)
• “A US-Backed, Far Right–Led Revolution in Ukraine Helped Bring Us to the Brink of War“, Jacobin (February 2022)
• “Ukraine war: Russian soldiers fire on Kherson protesters“, BBC News (21 March 2022) [JC: As I said in the conversation, what annoys me is that the BBC claims this video establishes that Russian soldiers were “firing shots at protesters”. We hear machine gun fire. People run and walk. Then, astonishingly, the video ends with, “It’s reported that at least one person has been left injured.” At least one? After being shot “at” with machine guns? How does that make sense? I’d have thought it should say, “It’s reported that everyone died except three who are currently fighting for their lives in intensive care.” Maybe (though I currently doubt it) Russian soldiers are under orders to shoot civilians, but I fail to see how this video evidences that.]
• “U Chicago students demand political science professor Mearsheimer change his views on Russia v. Ukraine“, Chicago City Wire (05 March 2022)
• “Ukraine and the Global American Empire“, Eugyppius : A Plague Chronicle on Substack (08 March 2022)
• “New York will allow non-citizens to vote under controversial law“, The Guardian (09 January 2022)
• Oliver Stone’s “Ukraine on Fire” (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5724358/)