Storella Dissects Trump’s Response to the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
In a recent panel discussion on Al Jazeera’s “Inside Story”, Pardee Professor and former U.S. ambassador to Zambia, Mark C. Storella weighed in on Donald Trump’s unconventional diplomatic dialogue around the Russia-Ukraine war. The president took to social media to express his disapproval about Vladimir Putin’s latest onslaught on Ukrainian cities, calling him “absolutely crazy.”
Storella remarked that Trump is seeking a reset with Russia by adding his own spin to it that emphasizes his close ties with Putin instead of American interests. The ambassador asserted that this approach is risky, especially in the context of Putin’s background as a Russian intelligence officer, which has primed him to exclude sentimentality from his politics.
“Vladimir Putin does not approach these issues based on personal and emotional considerations. He is a trained KGB agent. He looks at these things very coldly and he looks at relationships as things to be manipulated.” — Professor Mark C. Storella.
Storella further pointed out that the president has an extraordinary predilection for sharing his opinions uninhibitedly, underscoring Trump’s confrontational negotiation style.
“One of the amazing things about Donald Trump is that he’ll say almost anything right out loud. So it may be that what he has said is exactly what he was thinking at the time, and that’s, I think, startling for a diplomat. I teach diplomacy and we always train our students to be very controlled in what they do in a negotiation, to plan extensively, and never to do things unintentionally.” — Professor Mark C. Storella.
According to the professor, Russia’s refusal to accept calls for a ceasefire will likely trigger Trump to blame the global leadership including Putin, Zelenskyy, and the Europeans. Referring to Muhammad Ali’s quote, “you can run, but you can’t hide,” Storella said that Trump cannot put the Russia-Ukraine conflict on the back burner for long because of its significance for European as well as American security.
“If Putin is able to do the kinds of things he wants to do with Ukraine, it’s going to embolden China. . . . in terms of how they would treat Taiwan or aggressive moves in the South China Sea, where we have allies — the Philippines, Thailand, others. So Trump has to start seeing all these connections and that’s not going to make it easy for him to just walk away.” — Professor Mark C. Storella.
To watch Prof. Storella’s complete analysis, click here.
Mark C. Storella is the professor of the practice of diplomacy at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. He served as a United States Foreign Service Officer for more than three decades. Besides being the ambassador to Zambia, he was a deputy assistant secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration and dean of the Leadership and Management School of the Foreign Service Institute. Storella has several honors and awards to his name, including the Presidential Rank Award and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Excellence in Service Award. To learn more about his work and accomplishments, visit his faculty profile.