CFR fellow, WaPo columnist. Pulitzer finalist for biography. REAGAN: HIS LIFE AND LEGEND: NYT bestseller & NYT 10 best books of 2024. Writing John McCain bio.
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“If every congressional map had been drawn fairly, with party-blind nonpartisan methods, Democrats might have come close to winning a veto-proof two-thirds majority in the House, with the party winning nearly 20 additional districts in Texas, Florida and Georgia alone.” nytimes.com/2026/11/13/upsho…
Tom Cotton gets it. Why doesn’t Trump? Or Witkoff? Or Kushner?
NATO nations withdrawing from *their own* borders is a preposterous demand by Russia. Putin has proved once again that he’s not serious about a negotiated peace. Further talks are a farce at this point. Putin will only agree to stop the war when he knows he can’t win. We need to help Ukraine prove that point. nytimes.com/2026/11/13/us/po…
My professional opinion: I feel sorry for fellow biographers writing about people who are still alive. So much can happen after you publish! (See: Elon Musk and Bill Cosby.) Much easier to stick to writing about dead people (in my case, Ed Lansdale, Ronald Reagan, and now John McCain). They are guaranteed not to do anything that discredits them (and changes your narrative) after your book comes out!
nytimes.com/2026/11/12/opini…
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
As did the Soviets, Russia commits atrocities and wages aggression, and then kindly offers to commit slightly fewer atrocities and temporarily scale back its aggression in exchange for concessions that make its next attacks more likely to succeed. Russia must be defeated.
Russia demands Finland leave NATO and the alliance abandon bases in the Baltic states
These “conditions” were put forward by the Russian delegation during recent trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, BILD reports.
Moscow proposes keeping occupied Ukrainian territories and taking all of Donbas, including Kyiv-controlled parts of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The plan also requires NATO to drop military bases in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Finland to leave the military alliance.
Ukraine would get non-aligned status and renounce NATO membership, though EU membership is not ruled out. Odesa and Mykolaiv ports would be demilitarized. Agreements on free navigation in the Black and Baltic Seas are also envisaged.
Russia also wants Moldova turned into a federal republic including Moldova, Gagauzia and Transnistria. If Moldova joins the EU, Transnistria and Gagauzia could hold independence referendums.
In exchange, Moscow offers to withdraw nuclear weapons from Belarus, abandon intermediate-range missiles there, and pull troops from Transnistria.
Love this article. @ReillyRick is such a good writer. The kicker is perfect. washingtonpost.com/opinions/…
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My take on the Abu Dhabi negotiations: These talks are a dangerous farce. If the Trump administration actually wants to end the war, it should do the very thing that it refuses to do—ramp up support for Ukraine and put pressure on Russia. bit.ly/4zJWbnq
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
The ballroom at Buckingham Palace is 7,500 sq ft. The Kremlin's is 13,000 sq ft. The one at the Palace of Versailles is 13,500 sq ft. The Ottoman sultans' ballroom at the Dolmabahçe Palace is 21,500 sq ft. Trump's ballroom is 22,000 sq ft. So in other words, Trump's is bigger than that of all of Europe's kings, tsars, and sultans.
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
The US is once again deliberately allowing Ukrainian civilians to be killed
We have detected speed restrictions on Starshield on our Ukrainian territory – in the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine. The speed limit is back at 161 kilometers per hour – that’s 100 miles per hour.
This directly affects our ability to intercept Russian jet-powered “shahed” drones. These drones come from those areas, and because of the speed restrictions, we simply cannot catch up with them in time.
Near the frontline, we cannot use our aircraft. Only drone interceptors can operate there. And without the speed we need, shooting down these “shaheds” becomes much harder.
This means more Russian strikes get through, and more of our people are killed by Russia. We are trying to get the details from the American side, but so far, we know very little.
If someone in America is making decisions that basically treat Ukrainian territory as if it is not Ukrainian, then this tells us where things are going. We need to be clear and never recognize Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territory in any way.
From an address at the 9th European Political Community Summit. (3/3)
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Thanks so much, @ProfPaulPoast! I feel like at this point there should be an “IR Book of the Week” sticker for book jackets
IR Book of the Week! "The Realist" by David Sacks.
There is arguably no important thinker in the international relations thought that Hans Morgenthau. And there is, without question, no better book on Morgenthau's life and work that this new biography.
amazon.com/dp/B0G76XYWT6
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
My sources confirm what appears to be another deliberate throttling of Starlink Starshield. At speeds above 160kmh. They noticed it happening immediately after this week’s negotiations, which predictably went nowhere. “They are trying to train us,” says one source.
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Trump on Iran on Nov. 9: "I hope we're going to be able to make a deal with them." "They wanna make a deal."
Trump on Iran on Nov. 12: "We don’t need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed."
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
More evidence of Russian war crimes, while Kushner and Witkoff meet with the Russians, yet again.
Footage exclusively obtained from Ukrainian authorities and analyzed by CNN reveals new details of how Russia struck an underground shelter and aid hub in southeastern Ukraine with a massive bunker-busting bomb.
Russia, which consistently denies targeting civilians, has not commented on the strike itself. In a statement to state media, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had attacked Ukrainian military units in the area that day. cnn.it/3WBpTMC
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
"There could be some unexpected bipartisan agreement to reorient U.S. foreign policy in a direction that most Americans can support," @MaxBoot writes. wapo.st/4esNhC9
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Going to go out on a limb here and say there is zero change Donald Trump actually wrote this.
NEW
The New York Times has obtained the letter President Trump left for President Biden in the Oval Office in 2021.
The letter — which Trump wrote by hand using his signature black Sharpie — is printed in Biden’s forthcoming presidential memoir.
Full Story: nyti.ms/4zbXc6m
I agree, as I wrote in @PostOpinions, that Hegseth also deserves to be impeached for other actions such as the mass dismissals of general officers. I also don't agree with every line of Massie's resolution: wapo.st/4kuSpt7. But don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Still an impeachment worth supporting.
Q: “Where do you stand on this Hegseth impeachment?”
Rep. Bacon: “It’s complicated. I’m personally not a fan of the Secretary…but also, when you read Massie’s impeachment, I don’t agree with it. There’s other areas that I think are a problem, like the firing or redlining of 80 generals and admirals…He’s held money on Ukraine that we appropriated. None of that’s in the impeachment…If we’re allowed to amend it, I’d maybe feel a little differently.”
Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 retweeted
Even with Republicans in control, there is little support for a 50% increase in defense spending to $1.5 trillion. Not when the federal debt has surpassed the size of the economy for the first time since WWII. Both parties should work together to trim the fat, beginning by eliminating Trump boondoggles such as the “Golden Fleet” and the “Golden Dome.” Oh, and Congress could end the costly efforts to redesign aircraft carriers to accommodate Trump’s eccentric preference for obsolescent steam catapults. wapo.st/4BSnqNO