Epstein Secrets

residents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. But by the time he became Donald Trump's campai

ort, a Washington lobbyist and consultant, had a long career of work for leading Republicans, including presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan. But by the time he became Donald Trump's campaign chairman in 2016, Manafort was best known for his work on behalf of foreign political leaders,

lution as the latest form of American interventionism, and began a process of restricting Russian NGOs that was to reach a climax a decade later. Yanukovych eventually won the presidency in a 2010 comeback. but a second protest-driven revolution www.freedomhouse.org 23 EFTA00804747 BREAKING DOWN DEM

religious harmony, boast of government policies to ensure fair treatment for Russia's large Muslim population, and denounce those who brought down Yanukovych's government in Ukraine as fascists and pogromists. Yet when it comes to potential allies in Europe, it makes no difference to the Kremlin whether

a vigorous and even costly policy abroad. The increases in defense spending and global activism that began under Jimmy Carter and accelerated under Ronald Reagan took place when the country was suffering from an unprecedented bout of "stagflation." Nor was America any less war-weary after a decade in Vietnam

. The American public had gone from refusing to play any role in Europe to insisting on supporting Britain to the fullest, even at the risk of war. Reagan played a similar role in his campaign for the presidency, warning of the dangers of American weakness just a handful of years after Vietnam. So fa

o the verge of military confrontation. The pro-Russia region of Crimea is seething, and the new central government that took over in Kiev after Mr. Yanukovych fled is barely functioning. President Obama, speaking at the White House, was right to warn Russia against any military move and to indicate that

ther measures that would take advantage of Russia's weakness. Nor was it wise to humiliate even a powerful adversary. When George Shultz, President Ronald Reagan's secretary of state, asked Mr. Kennan how to approach the new Kremlin leader, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the former diplomat replied that the Soviets rem

adversary. When George Shultz, President Ronald Reagan's secretary of state, asked Mr. Kennan how to ap

ers in the the East to spearhead such a move. The opening moves of this scenario may already be playing out, given the rising tension in Crimea and Yanukovych's flight. It is anybody's guess what the endgame might look like. Having watched and analysed the U.S. stance vis-à-vis Iran's alleged nuclear-weap