Ahost of foreign policy “experts” are now explicitly calling for “regime change” in Russia following Vladimir Putin invading Ukraine.
Reminiscent of the establishment’s failed calls for regime change in countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, whose military conflicts cost countless American lives and resources, the sentiment appears to be at odds with the majority of the country. Nearly three-quarters of Americans oppose playing a major role in the unfolding conflict.
Benjamin Wittes, a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution, epitomized the establishment’s ultimate policy goal for Russia in a recent tweet: “Regime change: Russia.”
While the post drew significant criticism from other Twitter users, forcing Wittes to issue a Tweet for clarification of his stance, other mouthpieces for the establishment foreign policy think tank community championed Wittes’ proposal.
“This has to be the policy now,” tweeted Dr. Alina Polyakova, formerly the Founding Director for Global Democracy and Emerging Technology at the Brookings Institution, in response. Polyakova is now the President and CEO of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), which has hosted events featuring leaders from George Soros’s Open Society Foundations.
Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, noted how “now the conversation has shifted to include the possibility of desired regime change in Russia” in a February 27th Tweet.
Hellbound and Down 