Can there be anyone not shocked and appalled by Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine – a war intended to extinguish Ukraine as an independent nation; a war in which it appears that war crimes are not just being tolerated by the Kremlin but actively encouraged; a war intended to establish that the only laws that apply in the world today are those of the jungle?

The answer: yes. Such people prefer to call themselves ‘realists’, or ‘restrainers’, or ‘re-trenchers’, or ‘anti-interventionists’ or people who just want to prioritize “nation-building at home!”

Objectively, one might call them isolationists. And they can be found on both the left and the right of the political spectrum.

To discuss, Foreign Podicy host Cliff May is joined by FDD senior fellow Aaron MacLean.

Aaron served as a U.S. Marine for seven years with two tours in Afghanistan. He later taught at the U.S. Naval Academy, where in 2013 he received the Apgar Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Aaron received a B.A. in philosophy and the history of math and science from St. John’s College, Annapolis, and an M.Phil. in medieval Arabic thought from Oxford. He has been a Boren Scholar and a Marshall Scholar.

And he served as senior foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas.

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View the episode page on FDD's website here.

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