‘Dialogue Works’ edition of 16 January: Russia’s Next Move, The Trump Factor Shakes Washington

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Today’s chat with host Nima Alkhorshid covered a lot of ground. We opened with what the apparently successful intervention by Donald Trump’s emissary in the Gaza cease-fire talks may tell us about the way that Trump’s pre-election promises of ushering in an age of peace will be realized.  Of course, this naturally led to discussion of how the challenge of taking control of Netanyahu, where the U.S had the whip hand if Biden ever wished to exercise it (which he didn’t) and the challenge of dealing with Putin, who holds the high cards in the Ukraine conflict.

Otherwise, we discussed how Trump’s incoming team differs from the arrogant prima donnas whom he assembled in his first term. For this it was useful to consider impressions from Marco Rubio’s Senate hearings yesterday.

I have little doubt that viewers will find here much food for thought, whether they agree with me or not.

Translation below into German (Andreas Mylaeus)

„Dialogue Works“-Ausgabe vom 16. Januar: Russlands nächster Schritt, der Trump-Faktor erschüttert Washington

Im heutigen Chat mit Gastgeber Nima Alkhorshid wurde viel besprochen. Wir begannen mit der Frage, was uns die offenbar erfolgreiche Intervention von Donald Trumps Abgesandtem bei den Waffenstillstandsgesprächen im Gazastreifen darüber sagen kann, wie Trumps Wahlversprechen, ein Zeitalter des Friedens einzuleiten, verwirklicht werden können. Dies führte natürlich zu einer Diskussion darüber, wie die Herausforderung, die Kontrolle über Netanjahu zu übernehmen, wo die USA die Oberhand gehabt hätten, wenn Biden dies jemals hätte ausüben wollen (was er nicht tat), und die Herausforderung, mit Putin umzugehen, der im Ukraine-Konflikt die Trümpfe in der Hand hält, bewältigt werden kann.

Ansonsten haben wir darüber gesprochen, wie sich Trumps neues Team von den arroganten Primadonnen unterscheidet, die er in seiner ersten Amtszeit um sich versammelt hatte. Dazu war es nützlich, die Eindrücke von Marco Rubios gestriger Anhörungen im Senat zu berücksichtigen.

Ich habe wenig Zweifel, dass die Zuschauer hier viel Stoff zum Nachdenken finden werden, ob sie mir zustimmen oder nicht.

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Published by gilbertdoctorow

Gilbert Doctorow's latest book, "War Diaries. The Russia-Ukraine War, 2022-2023" is a unique contribution to literature on the war thanks to the author's reports on the Russian home front written during his periodic visits to St Petersburg at a time when Russia no longer issued visas and nearly all Western journalists had left the country. Doctorow's two-volume "Memoirs of a Russianist" published in 2020 also constitutes a category of its own, consisting largely of diary entries rather than reminiscences written decades later.. Volume 2 focuses on the community of 50,000 expatriate managers working and living in Moscow during the 1990s, about which none of his peers has yet to write. Gilbert Doctorow is a professional Russia watcher and actor in Russian affairs going back to 1965. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (1967), a past Fulbright scholar, and holder of a Ph.D. with honors in history from Columbia University (1975). After completing his studies, Mr. Doctorow pursued a business career focused on the USSR and Eastern Europe. For twenty-five years he worked for US and European multinationals in marketing and general management with regional responsibility. From 1998-2002, Doctorow served as the Chairman of the Russian Booker Literary Prize in Moscow. During the 2010-2011 academic year, he was a Visiting scholar of the Harriman Institute, Columbia University. Mr. Doctorow is a long-time resident of Brussels.

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3 thoughts on “‘Dialogue Works’ edition of 16 January: Russia’s Next Move, The Trump Factor Shakes Washington”

  1. I should say that I was quite optimistic about the Donald’s first term, but was utterly disappointed at him. Now, I am quite skeptical about his second, but mildly pleasantly surprised sometimes. I guess that it’s an improvement.

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  2. Great interview. I confess that early on I held a little “age prejudice.” I thought Nima was too young. But he always asks excellent questions that reflect a thorough knowledge of the situation.

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  3. Intelligent dialogues are always appreciated. It seems Trump has put the Likud party into an existensial crisis. Netanyahu reminds me of the scorpion in Aesop’s fable. It’s his nature to sting the frog carrying him mid stream. If Netanyahu embarrasses or challenges Trump at this juncture, things will get interesting. Putin is a different beast. There will be posturing for dominance , but a battle to the death will be avoided. Xi’s approach might be: “Let’s have tea and discuss the situation.” At the moment, Trump is riding a post election wave of exhuberance. However, I am cautious because I believe Trump repesents a revolution to the US ‘establishment’ in which case, there is the potential of a counter blow by the ‘reactionary’ forces. Where, when, & how this blow will delivered is impossible to predict. In any case, Trump’s first order of business is to develop his team (cohesive or not) and to define his leadership (weak or strong) (which is why Netanyahu’s reaction is critical). IMO, It is still too early to know exactly how things will play out.

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