DEBATE: Is Trump a viable mediator for peace?
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Pamela Harriman
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The article references Churchill encouraging his daughter-in-law Pamela to have affairs with US officials to influence FDR. Her fascinating life as a political hostess and diplomat provides rich historical context for understanding wartime alliance-building.
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Minsk agreements
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Understanding prior failed peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia provides essential context for evaluating whether any mediation effort can succeed. These agreements are the most relevant precedent for current peace talks.
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Lend-Lease
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The article draws parallels to WWII US weapons supply to Britain. Understanding how Lend-Lease actually worked illuminates the debate about US military aid to Ukraine and the historical precedent for such support.
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Steven Moore and I agree on at least one thing: we want Ukraine to win the war.
Tim is a former U.S. Army medic and longtime journalist who has been in Ukraine since Feb 2022. He’s the founder of The Counteroffensive.
Steven is a former chief of staff for a GOP member of Congress. He went to Ukraine on the fifth day of the invasion, and has been a leading force in getting Republican lawmakers and officials to support Ukraine.
The thing we two friends argue about most is the degree to which Ukraine needs Donald Trump. We’ve had so many interesting, illuminating and passionate discussions privately. And then it struck me: why not share it more widely to sharpen our arguments?
Here’s the issue which we’ll be debating:
Resolved: The Trump White House is a viable mediator for a just peace in the Ukraine-Russia War.
Tim: I will be arguing in opposition to the resolution.
Steven, thanks for doing this. One of the most interesting things about our friendship has been our disagreements over the degree to which Ukraine needs to engage with Trump.
My position is that we should skip to the inevitable betrayal, dispense with the pretense that the United States is interested in a just peace for Ukraine, and try to do as little damage as possible while recognizing that reality.
I think the recent days have shown this to be true. The White House put out a National Security Strategy that was outright hostile towards Europe and made outrageous demands of the countries that ought to be our allies.
The same strategy made no demands of Russia whatsoever other than that they do us the favor of being welcomed back into the fold of civilized nations with no accountability for the looting, killing, raping
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