The Catbird Seat

As Obama’s ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul got to know how its president thinks. And he’s clear on one thing: Thanks to Trump, ‘the world looks pretty good from Putin’s point of view’

- Owen Matthews

MICHAEL MCFAUL WAS AN ACADEMIC EXPERT IN RUSSIAN STUDIES WHEN President Barack Obama tapped him to become the White House’s point man on Russia in 2009. He was tasked with attempting to reset relations with Russia after its invasion of neighboring Georgia. But soon after he was appointed as ambassador, Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. of being behind mass demonstrations opposing his third term as president. McFaul quickly became a hated figure in Russian media, and nationalist youth groups physically harassed him after he met with representatives of the Russian opposition.

By the end of his ambassadorship in 2014, Russia had invaded neighboring Ukraine, leaving the reset in tatters. McFaul, now a professor of political science at Stanford University, has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump’s ties with Russia. His new book, From Cold War to Hot Peace, is a revelatory history of Russian-U.S. relations since the collapse of Communism. As Trump and Putin prepared for a planned one-on-one summit in July— news that rattled European and American officials alike—Newsweek spoke to McFaul about Russia’s role in Trump’s rise, Putin’s continued aggression and how Washington’s policies are helping him get stronger.

Where did the U.S. go wrong with Russia? Was it being too soft on Putin after the 2008 invasion of Georgia?