McCain Institute Executive Director was featured on CNN, MSNBC, BBC, The New York Times, Defense News, and more.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 12, 2024) – McCain Institute at Arizona State University (ASU) Executive Director Dr. Evelyn Farkas spoke extensively with members of the media this week during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Washington Summit. Dr. Farkas talked about the importance of the alliance, its support for Ukraine, deterrence against Russian aggression, and America’s future within NATO. View a sampling of news coverage below:
CNN’s Amanpour: ‘It’s a bit of a dangerous moment’: Defense expert on U.S. presidential race
The New York Times: U.S. and Allies Aim to Forge Commitments to Ukraine That Will Endure
“‘The name of the game is to build up deterrence against Russia as strongly as possible in order to withstand a lack of U.S. participation, or, worse, attempts at, or actual withdrawal,’ said Evelyn Farkas, a former senior Pentagon official in the Obama administration who is now head of the McCain Institute, a democracy advocacy group. “Creating a tighter web between NATO and Asia-Pacific countries allied with the United States — Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand — also helps hedge against any uncertainty that would arise from a second Trump term.” Read the full article here.
CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins: Evelyn Farkas on Russia and Ukraine’s outlook on NATO, U.S. Elections
“They [NATO] are trying to do what they can to tell the world, not just Zelenskyy, but also President Putin, President Xi, that the alliance is not going anywhere…When you are backing an ally or partner like Ukraine you know there are risks and there are costs but on the other side of it there are huge risks and costs if Russia wins — and we can’t let Russia win.”
BBC Radio: Evelyn Farkas on NATO, Ukraine: “If Vladimir Putin is made to understand that the territory Ukraine now has control over, that if Russia takes one step into those territories, NATO would come to Ukraine’s defense; if we communicated that clearly to Putin, he would understand. He does not want war with NATO.”
CNN’s The Situation Room: Evelyn Farkas on Putin and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting ahead of NATO summit
“Vladimir Putin is absolutely counterprogramming to NATO. He understands that the NATO alliance is basically arrayed against Russia — so he’s trying to show that Russia has friends.”
CNN’s News Central: Evelyn Farkas, “Russia, China are watching,” regarding NATO summit in D.C.
“The number one priority is making sure Ukraine has what it needs to make sure that Russia does not prevail, does not win, does not get the upper hand when it comes to Ukraine.”
MSNBC’s Deadline White House: ‘Dictator playdate’: Donald Trump and Hungary PM Viktor Orban set to meet again in Mar-A-Lago
“We should find a way to discipline Hungary within the NATO context for its actions — giving Vladimir Putin a pass, not helping Ukraine with military assistance. He just came from visiting Moscow, visiting Beijing, visiting our adversaries, and now he’s going to go see Donald Trump on the heels of the NATO summit, where he was relatively quiet.” Watch the full interview here.
Defense News: Biden to host NATO summit geared at ‘managing expectations’
“Right now, the policy is to support Ukraine,” said Evelyn Farkas, a former Pentagon official focusing on European security. “Could it change? Sure. But right now, the big affirmation is going to be NATO at 75 years and ‘look what we’re doing to help Ukraine.’” Read the full article here.
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