Garry Kasparov's Blog, page 23

Ukraine is on the Frontlines of Freedom | RDI | March 11, 2022

An urgent letter calling for the defense of Ukraine, signed by 85 dissidents from 24 oppressive countries on @Renew_Democracy. https://t.co/FdI734aNkP

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 11, 2022

To see the full list of dissident signatories, visit the Renew Democracy Iniitative.

“We are 85 dissidents from 24 oppressive countries. As those who know firsthand the experience of living under oppression, we have come together to warn the Free World that it’s not just our freedoms that are under threat. We know that the dictators back home will stop at nothing to destroy freedom anywhere and everywhere. This is why we are calling on all free nations and citizens from all over the world to come together and defend Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s attack on his neighbor is an attack on the idea of democracy itself. If we fail to stop him here, he and all the dictators aligned with him will continue to spread darkness to the rest of the Free World.

Authoritarian rulers already support one another’s regimes as they aim to mold the world in their own image. The regimes in Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, and others have banded together against democracy in defense of their own power. Meanwhile, Putin has meddled in the elections of at least 27 countries. These actions all stem from an authoritarian fear that freedom is infectious – that a free and prosperous neighbor might give the Russian people hope that they may one day be free to decide their own futures. China’s Xi Jinping has the same fears about democracy in Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.

Dictators around the world are watching how you respond to Putin’s aggression to see how much they can get away with. Take it from us – people who have suffered under authoritarianism; who understand how authoritarians work – these dictators don’t stop; they are stopped. And the Free World has given dictators free rein for too long. Democracies failed to adequately respond when Putin invaded Georgia in 2008, when he first invaded Ukraine in 2014, when he propped up dictators in Syria, Kazakhstan and Belarus, and when he assembled his troops on the border of Ukraine.

So now, we must do what we can to not only help the people of Ukraine fight to save their homes and families, but to nurture freedom around the world. By signing this letter, all of us – dissidents from Russia to Iran; Cuba to Cambodia; South Sudan to Syria, and 18 other countries, are uniting not only in defense of our own peoples, but in defense of liberty everywhere. If dictators can help each other, so must we. Together, we stand with Ukraine.”

See prominent Russian dissident’s reaction to Republicans calling Democrats ‘communist’ | CNN | March 10, 2022

I regularly chide American leftists about the cruel realities of socialism, but right-wingers calling them Communists is an insult to the hundreds of millions of victims of actual communism. It’s vacuous name-calling. https://t.co/4UcJ6OHSKF

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 11, 2022

You can see the original video at CNN.

#275 – The Russian War in Ukraine | Making Sense Podcast | March 10, 2022

Today at 2pm ET. https://t.co/9he77kVpq3

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 8, 2022

Visit Sam Harris’s podcast at Making Sense.

”

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Garry Kasparov about Putin’s war of aggression in Ukraine. They discuss Putin’s larger objectives, the perception of the war inside Russia, whether US and EU foreign policy is to blame, the expansion of NATO, American weakness, Republican support for Putin, the sanctions regime, whether the US and EU should impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, whether to openly seek regime change in Russia, how we can avoid WW3, what post-Putin government in Russia might look like, Western economic entanglement with autocracies, and other topics.

Garry Kasparov is a Russian pro-democracy leader, Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, business speaker and author, and former world chess champion. He has been a contributing editor to The Wall Street Journal since 1991 and in 2013 he was named a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Oxford-Martin School. He is the author of several books including How Life Imitates Chess, and his most recent book, Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped.

This Saturday (March 12, 2022), Garry will be sharing more information about these topics in an upcoming Briefing with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba & Soldiers from the Frontlines. The event is hosted by Renew Democracy Initiative, a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to defending liberal democracy at home and abroad.

 

Twitter: @Kasparov63

Website: kasparov.com, rdi.org”

Understanding Putin’s War | PutinCon | March 9, 2022

Join HRF today at 2PM EST for a conversation with @MarushevskaY, @anneapplebaum, and @Kasparov63, on Twitter Spaces to discuss the Russian war against #Ukraine.

Tune in here: https://t.co/bYrViYbFf6 pic.twitter.com/B0SJhItd5f

— Human Rights Foundation (@HRF) March 9, 2022

Listen to the recording here!

Putin is a “Threat to the World” | Sky News | March 7, 2022

“Putin is an existential threat”.

The Russian president is a “threat to the world”, says @Kasparov63 and unless he is “defeated in Ukraine, the consequences could be beyond our ability to control”.#TheGreatDebate: https://t.co/X3flQUBL0r

Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 pic.twitter.com/scgSwNgvMZ

— Sky News (@SkyNews) March 7, 2022

Garry Kasparov on Putin, Russian Psyche, Why We’re at War I Shoma Chaudhury | March 7, 2022

You can see the original video on YouTube.

Russian Invasion of Ukraine | BBC | March 7, 2022

Russian human rights campaigner and Chess Grandmaster @Kasparov63 tells me: "We are witnessing war crimes on an industrial scale not seen in Europe since WWII. Lying is one of the main traits of Putin's character so if he says something, we should assume the opposite." pic.twitter.com/eY2rd7TrXJ

— Yalda Hakim (@BBCYaldaHakim) March 7, 2022

You can see this video on YouTube.

Russia Showing What it is Capable of | CTV Question Period | March 6, 2022

What is Human Rights Foundation Chairman @Kasparov63’s assessment of how Russian President Vladmir Putin’s attack is going?

More: https://t.co/RYxv6MIcen#cdnpoli #ctvqp pic.twitter.com/DlmEqc8pb4

— CTV Question Period (@ctvqp) March 6, 2022

You can see the original clip at CTV Question Period. 

Putin’s War on Ukraine | CNN New Day | March 5, 2022

Video with @NewDay this morning. https://t.co/ZoTwVaE3ap

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 5, 2022

You can see this clip on YouTube.

Garry Kasparov on the Russian War on Ukraine | Anderson Cooper 360 | CNN | March 4, 2022

My appearance tonight on @AC360, which has being doing excellent & brave work telling the story of Putin’s brutal war on Ukraine & besieged Ukrainians. Every horrific image represents lives destroyed by a mad dictator. Glory to Ukraine. https://t.co/QeRTGYZDur

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) March 5, 2022