Walter Russell Mead

Scholar @HudsonInstitute, professor @UF and columnist @WSJ. Latest book The Arc of a Covenant available for purchase using the link below.

[Miles Smith IV @IVMiles]

Downtown Greenville SC waterfall view. Not bad. Love this place.

[Hudson Institute @HudsonInstitute]

May 28: Washington, DC

@wrmead, @peterrough, and @rlheinrichs briefed Ukrainian Ambassador @StefanishynaO, @john_walters_, and think tank experts on their findings from the trip and how the US and European allies can best support the defense and security of Ukraine.

"Firsthand visits matter," Ambassador Stefanishyna affirmed.

@UKRintheUSA

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

An Age of Incompetent Elites…

https://t.co/1mIgyBR89y

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

Big.

[The Times and Sunday Times @thetimes]

Japanese torn as PM plans to jail people who desecrate national flag https://t.co/cDpsrAzpEp

[Wall Street Journal Opinion @WSJopinion]

Pete Hegseth’s speech in Singapore was a strong one, and it deserves a wide audience. The question is whether his deeds, and those of his president, can live up to it, writes @wrmead
https://t.co/X41w4l1bsN

[Ulrich Speck @ulrichspeck]

Europe should help

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

Florence King: a great American who is sorely missed.

[James Fulford @JMF1958]

@RBrookhiser Here’s Florence in 1995 AMERICAN ENTERPRISE @RBrookhiser https://t.co/Y4LD7ZgbNM

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

Trump’s Iran Quandary: he wants the war to end but on what terms? Having enraged one wing of the MAGA coalition by launching the war he’s reluctant to infuriate another by ending it with a weak deal. https://t.co/Sx1o1u24jw

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

Whenever you see an otherwise inexplicable boondoggle (like California’s high speed rail fail) look for the tiny Venn diagram where Green and Union interests intersect. Greens hate to build most stuff, but bike lanes and HSR are ‘good’.

[Arthur Herman @ArthurLHerman]

One of the most disruptive and misguided urban initiatives ever. Set in motion by Americans who wish they lived in Amsterdam instead.

[James Madison Program @MadisonProgram]

TOMORROW:

Join us for a discussion between Walter Russell Mead (@wrmead), scholar at the @HudsonInstitute, and Professor Robert P. George (@McCormickProf), the James Madison Program Director, on "The Declaration of Independence and the Future of American Democracy."

As a JMP Princeton University Reunions Event, the talk will be held on Friday May 22, 2026 at 11:00 am – 12:30 pm in McDonnell Hall A02. For more details, see here: https://t.co/OgURFKylSb

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

Over zealous, poorly informed and panic prone green activists did more damage to sustainability than the whole fossil fuel industry with misguided opposition to nuclear. Prepping a repeat performance?

[Damir Marusic @dmarusic]

There's something about AI safety people that reeks of Greta Thunberg.

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

My friends and colleagues Paul Lim and Ben Sasse in conversation:
https://t.co/CsGixCu1K5

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

@OKhudetska @_JakubJanda Actually, I was listening to frustrated Ukrainian reformers. There was always a basis for the modernization of the Ukrainian state, and there was incremental progress, but as often happens it took the stress of war to clear the way for deep change.

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

4 years into the war, the once weak and almost shambolic Ukrainian state has developed into a powerful and effective war fighting machine. Bad news for Russia.

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Our Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine has obtained new Russian documents assessing the aggressor state’s losses from the war. Importantly, this is specifically a Russian internal assessment – one they are trying to conceal both from the world and from their own domestic audience.

The first major indicator is a reduction in active oil wells. Just a single Russian oil company – and not even the largest one – has already been forced to shut down around 400 wells. Given the specifics of Russian oil production, these are significant losses, as restarting wells in Russia is far more difficult than in other oil-producing countries.

The second indicator is a reduction in oil refining of at least 10% in just a few months this year alone. We see that our Ukrainian long-range sanctions are truly effective, and we will continue to scale up this line of our active actions. The data on the banking crisis in Russia is also quite convincing: 11 financial institutions are preparing for full liquidation due to problems that cannot be resolved by other means, while another eight banks have accumulated critical issues that cannot be addressed without external resources. This year’s federal budget deficit figures also look encouraging for us, standing at almost $80 billion by the fifth month of this year, alongside the bankruptcy of a significant number of Russian regional budgets.

I have also instructed the Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Oleh Luhovskyi, to share, in a format that does not compromise our sources, the obtained information on Russia’s attempts to involve global companies in resolving its financial hardship and in sanction-evasion schemes. In particular, we have recorded attempts to organize the export of grain from the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea – and, regrettably, other forms of economic exploitation of the peninsula involving entities from the United States. We will inform our partners. We are also recording attempts to bring investment and technology from democratic countries into Russia’s Arctic oil and gas projects. We know how to counter this. Thank you to everyone who helps us. Thank you to all our Ukrainian intelligence officers.

[Ulrich Speck @ulrichspeck]

Bottom line from a visit to Ukraine by @wrmead: "If Ukraine survives the war, it will likely emerge as a major force in military technology and a significant factor in the Eurasian balance of power." https://t.co/OO73K31Wug

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

The Red Dynasty did everything it could to destroy China’s ancient civilization. The survival of that noble way of life owes less than zero to the Red Princelings.

[Volatility Smile @volatilitysmile]

EAD. Civilizations don’t stop with regime changes.

[Wall Street Journal Opinion @WSJopinion]

The way armies fight is changing daily—and, at the moment, that favors Kyiv, writes @wrmead
https://t.co/ooRFizIXpD

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

America has many, many trees that are older than the Red Dynasty that Xi Jinping represents.

[Cory in San Francisco @coryfromphilly]

America also has trees that are older than the United States

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

She is an extremely impressive leader.

[Elisa Mosini 🇪🇺🇮🇹 @MosiniElisa]

Maia Sandu, President of Moldova: “Russia is a state that sends drones against sleeping civilians and targets hospitals and schools with deliberate intent. Russia is an aggressor and the most serious security threat to the continent.”

She is brave, and she is speaking the truth

[Walter Russell Mead @wrmead]

In 1964 I saw Winston Churchill in the House of Commons. In 2026 I met another great leader whose words and deeds at a critical moment inspired a nation and changed the course of history. An honor, sir.

[Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський @ZelenskyyUa]

Зустрівся з представниками американського аналітичного центру Hudson Institute та поінформував їх про наслідки російських обстрілів цими днями.

На тлі таких ударів особливо важливо зміцнювати українську протиповітряну оборону, і ми вдячні Сполученим Штатам Америки та всім небайдужим американським людям за підтримку України, яку ми відчуваємо впродовж усіх років цієї повномасштабної російської агресії.

Під час зустрічі обговорили співпрацю з Конгресом США, дипломатичну роботу для досягнення достойного миру та важливість активної участі США в переговорному процесі. Ми розраховуємо на закінчення паузи в перемовинах та активізацію дипломатії. Це важливо для збереження життів наших людей та відновлення безпеки у Європі.