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Read on to the end of the article for an invitation to our next premium subscriber Zoom call, featuring former NATO Secretary General and Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen—taking place on Wednesday, May 27 at 9am ET.

Garry Kasparov is the founder and chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which publishes The Next Move.

I’m on my way back from Toronto, where I just received the Friend of Ukraine Award from the Tryzub Gala Foundation, which recognizes people for their support of Ukraine.

(Of course, the real heroes are the men and women of Ukraine, who are taking on enormous risks and sacrificing every day and every night. Nevertheless, I’m flattered and grateful for the opportunity to help advance this most worthy cause.)

Last year, I rocked the boat a bit in a different part of Canada. It was at the Halifax International Security Forum, where I said that “NATO doesn’t exist anymore.”

“It’s a fake.” I went on to say. “It’s N-A-T-O, four letters.”

It were as if I’d committed heresy! Some people are still mad at me for saying this! I guess it makes sense that they responded this way, since my point was that Article 5 is actually an article of faith—not a functioning enforcement mechanism.

If Russia were to probe the alliance with a small incursion—say, nabbing one predominantly Russian-speaking city in Latvia or Estonia, would Spanish or Portuguese troops really get into a shooting war with Moscow?

Would Canada get involved?

What about the United States? Certainly not under this administration, but even with a Democrat in the White House, can we be so sure?

My belief was reinforced earlier this week at a forum in New York that the Renew Democracy Initiative organized with the Consulates General of Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Lithuania.

I participated in an illuminating discussion with Swedish Consul General Ambassador Erik Ullenhag and RDI CEO Uriel Epshtein.

There are some countries that would respond to a Russian trespass in Northern Europe. I strongly suspect that our Nordic and Baltic friends really do intend to stand up. Their representatives all signaled that historical experience, coupled with the more recent memory of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has put them in a more ready position.

But the Nordics and Baltics, as courageous and committed as they are, represent only one part of the democratic alliance. Forcing them to carry the burden of defending the Free World alone is untenable, just as it’s unsustainable (not to mention unfair) to place that responsibility squarely on Ukraine.

So, if NATO isn’t working in its current form, the allies need to start thinking about what comes next. No mortal institution is sacred, but the values of mutual security, freedom, and prosperity are.

To help start that conversation, I’d like to turn to a friend who understands NATO’s challenges well: Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Anders served as secretary general of NATO, and before that, for eight years as prime minister of Denmark (a country that, more recently, has had to endure insulting and dangerous threats against its territory from its nominal NATO ally in Washington).

I’ll be holding a Zoom conversation with Anders for premium subscribers of The Next Move, coming up on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at 9am ET. We’ll discuss the future of NATO, Nordic and Baltic security, and, of course, the two million-square kilometer elephant in the room: Greenland.

If you’re not already a premium subscriber, you can upgrade to join our call with Anders. The registration link for our talk is just below the paywall.

And if you’d like to bring a friend, I encourage you to gift a subscription. They’ll get all of the same benefits that you receive, including access to our May 27 talk.

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As always, I don’t take one kopek from your contributions. All of your support helps to drive the work of RDI, including direct aid to Ukraine, organizing dissident-led civic education, and shaping the conversation here on The Next Move.

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To listen to the full episode, please consider upgrading to a premium subscription. Your support drives the work of the Renew Democracy Initiative, including delivering life-saving aid to Ukraine, organizing dissident-led civic education, and driving the conversation here on The Next Move. Premium subscribers get invitations to exclusive Zoom calls and …

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A note from Garry Kasparov: Celebrate one year of The Next Move: save 30% when you upgrade to join our premium subscriber community and get invitations to exclusive Zoom conversations, early access to podcasts, and other perks!

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Garry Kasparov is the founder and chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which publishes The Next Move.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please note that this call has been rescheduled and will now take place on Friday, May 1 at 12:00pm ET/9:00am PT.

For many of us, recent news has been a rollercoaster. If you are like me, you may be celebrating Viktor Orbán’s electoral defeat in one moment, while anxiously watching the state of the war in Iran the next. World events remain complicated, to put it mildly.

But in some unequivocally good news: This month marks one year since the Renew Democracy Initiative launched The Next Move. To celebrate, I am happy to announce our next premium subscriber Zoom call, taking place on Friday, May 1 at 12:00pm ET/9:00am PT.

This month, I am excited to invite you to a conversation with Ty Cobb, who served as White House special counsel in the first Trump administration from 2017 to 2018. RDI CEO Uriel Epshtein will moderate my conversation with Ty.

Mr. Cobb is a veteran attorney and former federal prosecutor who brings an insider’s perspective on the Trump administration and the challenges facing American democracy. Since 2018, he has often been a vocal critic of actions he believes threaten our democratic institutions. He is a man of law and principle, and I am looking forward to having a candid discussion with him.

On previous calls, we have had very fruitful conversations with guests such as RDI Vice Chair Linda Chavez and historian Edward Luce. I was so happy to see so many of you at these conversations, and I’m looking forward to continuing the tradition.

We hope you join us on May 1! This is a premium subscriber exclusive, but to make matters easier (and to mark our 1-year anniversary!), we’re offering 30% off premium subscriptions through the end of April.

If you are not yet a premium subscriber, you can find the link to upgrade at the top of this article. And if you know someone who may enjoy this call or our other work here at The Next Move, feel free to send them a gift subscription. I don’t receive a cent from your contributions. It all goes to our work here at the Renew Democracy Initiative: shaping the conversation on The Next Move; connecting political dissidents with students, business leaders, and elected officials; and delivering RDI’s life-saving aid to frontline communities in Ukraine.

I hope to see many of you soon. You can register for the Zoom call at the link below (the signup link is just past the upgrade button if you’re a free subscriber). We’re committed to a real dialogue, so come prepared with questions for me and Mr. Cobb!

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Uriel Epshtein is the CEO of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which publishes The Next Move.

Kharkiv is a city of cognitive dissonance.

Located in eastern Ukraine, just over the Russian border, Kharkiv has borne the brunt of Russia’s onslaught. Moscow targeted the city in 2014 and again in 2022, when Russian forces occupied much of the Kharkiv Oblast (province) until Ukraine was able to liberate the territory.

Despite Ukraine’s military success, Kharkiv city (and the rest of the oblast) remains under fire today.

In Kharkiv, military vehicles share the road with sports cars. You’ll see an elegant restaurant that wouldn’t look out of place in Soho or Georgetown. Across the street from that restaurant, you’ll see a bombed-out building or a crater.

A quarter of the city’s buildings have been destroyed. Yet I watch municipal workers whitewashing the trees lining the streets. It’s a measure designed to protect the trees from pests and environmental damage. Amid all of the missile and drone attacks, the people of Kharkiv still care about their hometown’s appearance. That commitment pays off: The city—minus, of course, the areas where Russian forces have struck—is genuinely clean! Certainly, it’s better-maintained than much of New York City.

Above all, Kharkivites are proud of their resilience. We see that strength—sometimes grim, other times optimistic—on display everywhere we go.

Allow me to illustrate that spirit for you as best I can.

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Photo: Chris Lawson, Renew Democracy Initiative Ukraine leadership delegation, March 2026

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Editor’s Note: The Renew Democracy Initiative—publisher of The Next Move—is in Ukraine! We’ll be sharing daily dispatches from our delegation. Premium subscribers will receive each Ukraine Dispatch 24 hours before anyone else. Be the first to get on-the-ground news from the frontlines of freedom by upgrading to join our premium subscriber community today! All proceeds go to support the work of the Renew Democracy Initiative, including humanitarian assistance to communities in Ukraine.

Uriel Epshtein is the CEO of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which publishes The Next Move.

I can’t tell you where I’m headed.

I’m writing this from the bus. After spending the past couple of days in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, we’re turning east. However, the name of the city we’re going to will have to remain secret, at least until we’ve left.

There have been inspiring blips of normalcy throughout the journey, but this country is still at war.

Our next few days will be particularly sensitive.

Allow me to explain.

Premium subscribers received this entire Ukraine Dispatch a day before everyone else. If you are not yet a member of our premium subscriber community, you can upgrade to be the first to receive updates from our Ukraine delegation.

Ultimately, our delegation will end up in Kharkiv. It’s Ukraine’s second-largest city. But we’re not going to be staying over in Kharkiv.

If you look at a map, you’ll see that Kharkiv is located right up against Russia. The outskirts of the municipality are just 13 miles from the border. This means that people living there take the brunt of everything that Moscow’s forces are throwing at Ukraine.

Because of the precarious situation, we’re going to have to commute from a third location, another city located a couple of hours’ drive from Kharkiv. In order to protect our group and our colleagues, I’m going to refrain from disclosing the name of this city.

Our security coordinator, the government ministers we’ve chatted with, “Arkadiy” (the Azov commander I met on Monday), and the mayor of Kharkiv himself have all advised us that overnighting in the city proper would bring unnecessary risk to our group.

This certainly complicates our plans. We’re taking other precautions too. I didn’t think that procuring bulletproof vests and faraday boxes was part of the job description when I signed up to run a non-profit. But here we are.

Yet being a visitor still is a luxury. Truth be told, our local hosts have gone to great lengths to keep us safe. Meanwhile, even though Russia has destroyed a quarter of Kharkiv’s buildings, hundreds of thousands of people continue to live there. They put up with the danger we were advised to avoid every single day.

This is why the bulk of RDI’s aid to Ukraine—roughly $10 million of our $15 million raised—has been committed to the Kharkiv area. Many organizations are doing admirable work supporting refugees, but someone also needs to ensure that Ukraine will be a viable nation the day after the war rather than a depopulated wasteland.

As we continue on, I notice more and more military vehicles taking up the road. We’re clearly getting closer to the actual military front. I watch convoys of trucks painted in olive drab, tarps shielding their cargoes from the elements—and from prying eyes.

There are other signs of the war. Palatial homes juxtaposed against craters where missiles and kamikaze drones exploded.

Meanwhile, the sky is empty. This is especially jarring for someone who lives in the DC area. There are choppers constantly ferrying officials around Washington and its environs. My house is on the flight path of Reagan National Airport, meaning I hear the roar of jet engines during all hours of the day.

Not so in Ukraine. It’s too dangerous for routine flights and even most official travel with the frequent Russian bombardments. So it came as a surprise when, right before leaving Kyiv, I caught two helicopters flying off into the distance. I was having a private meeting with some military officers.

One of them explained. “They’re picking up the most badly injured soldiers… the ones who wouldn’t survive without being evacuated like this. That’s one of the only things our pilots will risk flying for.”

Speaking of the sky: The natural landscape I’m watching from our bus is an imperfect reflection of the Ukrainian flag. In peak season, clear blue skies over shimmering wheatfields make it clear where Ukraine got the inspiration for its national banner.

Today, it’s slightly overcast, and the crops are a little more grey than gold. Yet every so often, the clouds will break and I’ll see the contours of the flag.

P.S. Because of the situation in Kharkiv, it looks like a dispatch will not be in the cards for tomorrow. I’d wanted these dispatches to be truly daily, but I’ll make it up to you!

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Editor’s Note: The Renew Democracy Initiative—publisher of The Next Move—is in Ukraine! We’ll be sharing daily dispatches from our delegation. Premium subscribers will receive each Ukraine Dispatch 24 hours before anyone else. Be the first to get on-the-ground news from the frontlines of freedom by upgrading to join our premium subscriber community today! All proceeds go to support the work of the Renew Democracy Initiative, including humanitarian assistance to communities in Ukraine.

Uriel Epshtein is the CEO of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which publishes The Next Move.

Ukrainian UAVs—that is, unmanned aerial vehicles—are in the news.

In my last dispatch, I mentioned this week’s massive Russian drone attack. Over the last four years, Moscow has launched around 60,000 Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones at Ukraine, killing innocent people and wrecking civilian infrastructure.

Now, Russia’s Iranian allies are using those same Shaheds against American servicemembers and allies in the Middle East. Kyiv’s expertise in drone interception is in high demand because of the Iran war.

So what better time to meet with one of the senior-most officers in Ukraine’s military?

The Renew Democracy Initiative’s delegation had the opportunity to get together with Colonel Pavlo Yelizarov, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Air Force. He built out Ukraine’s most effective UAV unit, and I want to share some of his insights in drone warfare with you.

Premium subscribers have access to this entire Ukraine Dispatch right now! If you are not yet a member of our premium subscriber community, you can upgrade to continue reading.

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Editor’s Note: The Renew Democracy Initiative—publisher of The Next Move—is in Ukraine! We’ll be sharing daily dispatches from our delegation. Premium subscribers will receive each Ukraine Dispatch 24 hours before anyone else. Be the first to get on-the-ground news from the frontlines of freedom by upgrading to join our premium subscriber community today! All proceeds go to support the work of the Renew Democracy Initiative, including humanitarian assistance to communities in Ukraine.

Uriel Epshtein is the CEO of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which publishes The Next Move.

The first thing we see in Irpin is the bridge. Or, at least, what’s left of it.

Ukrainian forces destroyed the Romanivsky Bridge in the opening days of the war to halt the Russian advance toward Kyiv. Irpin, an affluent suburb, lay directly in the Russians’ path, making it a target in those first chaotic days of fighting.

Destroying bridges as a delaying move is a tactic that’s been around as long as there have been wars to fight and bridges to wreck.

But there’s something jarring about seeing the twisted metal and chunks of concrete here, in Irpin. This isn’t some remote outpost. It is a central artery connecting a wealthy suburb to the capital. Imagine the US Army sending the Key Bridge tumbling into the Potomac to stop an invader from crossing from Arlington into Washington, DC.

The Ukrainians, unwilling to let Russia rip out the heart of their nation, blew up the bridge almost immediately after the invasion began.

Premium subscribers received this entire Ukraine Dispatch a day before everyone else. If you are not yet a member of our premium subscriber community, you can upgrade to be the first to receive updates from our Ukraine delegation.

Civilians still had to get out. Photographs broadcast to the whole world show women, children, and the elderly fleeing on foot, scrambling over rubble, and wading through freezing water beneath the ruined span at the very spot where my colleagues and I are standing.

During that brief Russian occupation, over 70% of Irpin was destroyed. Within a month, the Ukrainian military had liberated the city. Today, much of it has been rebuilt.

However, the bridge remains as it was, preserved as a monument to the Ukrainians’ quick resistance to stop the invasion. The Romanivsky Bridge is one of many scars etched into Ukraine’s landscape, a reminder of what this nation has been through and what it is still going through today.

Not far from the bridge is another monument: the “car graveyard.”

It’s exactly what it sounds like: rows of civilian automobiles, burnt out, rusted, shredded, and pierced with bullet holes. Russian soldiers murdered a lot of the passengers and drivers of those cars.

It is one thing to face enemy troops on the battlefield: kill or be killed. But what were these Russian troops thinking as they emptied their magazines into cars carrying desperate families?

Putin and his henchmen launched the invasion on the pretext that Ukrainians and Russians are one people. While Putin’s narrative is ahistorical propaganda, there were plenty of familial and interpersonal ties between Russia and Ukraine after centuries of Russian and Soviet rule. I know this dynamic well—my dad is from Moscow, and my mom is from Kyiv. The commander of Ukraine’s military, General Oleksandr Syrski, was born in Russia—and, unbelievably, his parents and brother still live there!

So it’s entirely possible that some of the Russians in Irpin were just a few degrees removed from the people they murdered. Perhaps the Russian soldiers’ parents once studied at the same universities or worked in the same factories as their victims.

Is this how you treat people that you claim as your own?

I can’t shake that question as I walk alongside one wrecked chassis after another. I’m sure many Ukrainians are troubled with similar thoughts, but even in the darkest places, you wouldn’t know it. For all that they’ve been through, Ukrainians are incredibly forward looking. In Irpin, many cars are graffitied with “Slava Ukraini” and “victory.” Bright paintings of butterflies and sunflowers cover the husks of ruined automobiles.

This isn’t the only car graveyard in Ukraine. Wherever Russia left evidence of its crimes, Ukrainians have preserved the scene.

That night, the air raid alerts start up again. The strikes hit civilian infrastructure and neighborhoods. The randomness is part of Moscow’s strategy.

It turns out that I am in Ukraine for one of the largest Russian drone attacks of the war: over 1,000 drones in a 24-hour period. Many are Shaheds—the same model of Iranian UAV now being lobbed at American forces and our allies in the Middle East.

So much for catching up on sleep.

The spirit of resilience I found in Irpin has followed me back to Kyiv. Ukraine wakes up. The drone strikes are still going on. The country is battered and bruised, and still, alive.

I guess, what other choice do they have?

On Tuesday morning, we visit a major hospital in Kyiv. This is Ukraine’s Walter Reed. It’s one of the city’s most important medical facilities.

The Renew Democracy Initiative—publisher of The Next Move—has donated a 2.8-megawatt boiler unit to help keep the hospital running, to make sure heat and basic services remain intact even under strain. If you’ll forgive the pitch, when you support RDI by joining The Next Move’s premium subscriber community, this is what you’re paying for. It makes me proud, and I hope you share that pride.

We meet with hospital leadership and local officials. There was supposed to be a bigger crowd , but the drone attacks are keeping them home.

After a day spent between a military base and the site of a massacre—places inextricably tied to killing and death—it feels strangely… refreshing to be in a place like a hospital. Of course, people die in hospitals. Yet this is also a place where babies come into the world and lives are saved.

Our hosts at the hospital boast that their facility had one of the lowest COVID mortality rates in the country. It’s a real point of pride, but it feels almost anachronistic in the context of this war. Naturally, the nonstop bombardment has Ukraine’s medical system under constant pressure.

There’s a temptation, from a distance, to see war in discrete moments: battles, offensives, headlines. What I see instead is something more continuous. Ukrainian society is absorbing shock after shock and fighting back for the sake of something most of us take for granted: a normal, boring life.

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Editor’s Note: The Renew Democracy Initiative—publisher of The Next Move—is in Ukraine! We’ll be sharing daily dispatches from our delegation. Premium subscribers will receive each subsequent Ukraine Dispatch 24 hours before anyone else. Be the first to get on-the-ground news from the frontlines of freedom by upgrading to join our premium subscriber community today! All proceeds go to support the work of the Renew Democracy Initiative, including humanitarian assistance to communities in Ukraine.

Uriel Epshtein is the CEO of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which publishes The Next Move.

Our train pulls into Kyiv in the early morning.

Eating breakfast sitting down feels like a real luxury after more than 24 hours of travel. Staying in an upscale hotel like ours would mark the start of a relaxing vacation in any other country, but we are not on vacation, and this country is at war.

We leave behind the creature comforts of our hotel for a stark reminder of that war. We’re on our way to a training base frequently used by the Azov Brigade.

If the name Azov provokes a little bit of discomfort, you’re not alone. The Azov Brigade was formed to protect the city of Mariupol when Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014. Back then, the unit gained international notoriety for attracting a number of far-right ultra-nationalists to its ranks.

Premium subscribers received this entire Ukraine Dispatch a day before everyone else. If you are not yet a member of our premium subscriber community, you can upgrade to be the first to receive updates from our Ukraine delegation.

The Kremlin seized upon Azov’s nationalist pedigree to push the narrative that it was “de-Nazifying” Ukraine in order to protect Russian speakers and other minorities.

Our host on the base is a heavily tattooed Azov commander in his early thirties. Let’s call him Arkadiy (for security purposes, we’re concealing his identity).

Arkadiy concedes that there were far-right punks in Azov when the first invasion began. Football hooligans—violent soccer fans always itching for a fight—were typical of the regiment’s first recruits.

What the Russian talking points always glided over was the fact that Azov was formed in response to a war of aggression. The brigade has changed as Ukraine has westernized over the past decade. Moscow’s stale propaganda has remained the same.

Case in point: Renew Democracy Initiative’s local contact, the man who connected us to Arkadiy, the Azov commander, is an observant Jew. When we arrive on the base, our Jewish guide and Arkadiy embrace, and the language they banter in is… Russian (typical of Ukrainian Jews and people from eastern Ukraine). Between my name and my conspicuous star of David, there’s no missing the fact that I’m Jewish too. The commander treats me as a friend.

I’m watching Vladimir Putin’s disinformation unravel in real time. These are no Nazis.

The evidence of Azov’s evolution goes beyond this anecdote. Once a volunteer militia, Azov has been folded into the National Guard of Ukraine and professionalized. Today, it is an elite unit carrying prestige comparable to America’s Army Rangers. Jews, Muslims, and other minorities serve with Azov. Ukraine isn’t perfect (what country is?). Yet it’s especially rich for the Russians—from whom we get the word pogrom—to position themselves as the great defenders of Ukrainian Jewry.

It’s people like our Azov host who are protecting Ukrainians of all faiths and backgrounds and ensuring a prosperous and free tomorrow.

Arkadiy shares his own personal story serving in the Azov Brigade. He’s not even a decade out of college. RDI has a young team—two of my colleagues are the exact same age as this guy—yet our experiences are so vastly different.

I remember watching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine unfold—on TV and on social media. Arkadiy lived it. On the morning of February 24, 2022, he was on vacation. He returned to Mariupol as quickly as he could to join his comrades.

My new Azov friend relates his experiences in combat. When the Russians forced Ukraine to retreat from Mariupol, Arkadiy was seriously wounded by a landmine. I’ll spare you the gorier details: He was ultimately taken prisoner by Russian soldiers. Despite his extensive injuries, Arkadiy’s Russian captors tortured him. He languished with a mangled leg, while the Russians denied him treatment. They wouldn’t even give him painkillers. They wanted him to go on record and denounce supposed Ukrainian “war crimes.”

Through it all, the only thing this soldier was afraid of was that any forced “confession” would bring shame to his grieving mother. He expected to die anyway.

Arkadiy never broke. He never gave the Russians the “confession” they craved. Through a prisoner swap, he made it back and ultimately recovered. He’s even returned to combat.

Our Azov hosts walk us through some live-fire exercises. This isn’t my first time shooting a rifle, but the weight of the gun together with the gear is more than I expected. Arkadiy remarks that he doesn’t want us to just fire while standing still because real combat is dynamic—a blur of motion. We have to be moving—kneeling, lying down, jumping up.

(The one thing we are not allowed to do is run. Arkadiy weathered torture and deadly combat, but he isn’t quite bold enough to let our untrained group shoot while running. I don’t blame him! There’s a difference between being brave and having a death wish.)

Drilling with the Azov Brigade is a good reminder that what we are doing isn’t just for sport. It’s all well and good to talk about lofty concepts like liberal democracy. Ukrainians are fighting for it.

We’re on our way to Irpin next. It’s an upscale suburb of Kyiv that Russia occupied during the first weeks of the war. The devastation that the Russian marauders left behind when they retreated from the capital region is the reason people like Arkadiy are willing to endure unbearable pain and hardship in order to secure victory for Ukraine—and for the entire Free World.

Contrary to Russian propaganda, the courageous men of the Azov Brigade are not Nazis. But they are nationalists. You have to be proud of your nation in order to face death for it.

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Editor’s Note: The Renew Democracy Initiative—publisher of The Next Move—is headed to Ukraine! Starting on Monday, we’ll be sharing daily dispatches from our delegation. This first dispatch is available to all readers. Starting tomorrow, premium subscribers will receive each subsequent Ukraine Dispatch 24 hours before anyone else. Be the first to get on-the-ground news from the frontlines of freedom by upgrading to join our premium subscriber community today! All proceeds go to support the work of the Renew Democracy Initiative, including humanitarian assistance to communities in Ukraine.

Uriel Epshtein is the CEO of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which publishes The Next Move.

You can’t fly to Kyiv.

We take the interconnectedness of the world for granted. It’s rare to find a destination not served by any airline. There are airports in the most remote corners of Alaska with scheduled flights! But the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine has suspended all air traffic to and from Ukraine for four years and counting.

So in order to reach the Ukrainian capital from abroad, you have to jump through some hoops.

I’m writing this from a train on my way to Kyiv at the head of a Renew Democracy Initiative delegation. On Saturday afternoon, I got in a cab to JFK airport in New York before hopping on a flight to Warsaw via Paris. Upon landing, we were picked up for a three-hour car ride to the town of Chelm, on the Poland-Ukraine border. There, we boarded a train that would carry us through the night all the way to Kyiv.

(In the middle of a war, Ukrainian train service is still more comfortable and reliable than Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. Go figure!)

The whole ordeal feels like something out of a black-and-white movie about World War II. Yet this is daily life for tens of millions of Ukrainians. Whatever inconvenience I’m enduring as a visitor is only temporary.

I can’t help but think about my Ukrainian-born mom as the train sways beneath me. She made the reverse journey nearly fifty years ago, first on a train from Kyiv to Hungary, then a Soviet satellite state, and finally into Austria and on to the West. As the light fades, I am looking out on the same landscapes, the same trees, roads, and buildings as she did, even as the flags and borders and styles have changed.

Back then, my mom could never have imagined that the USSR would collapse, that Russia would invade Ukraine, and that, in the middle of that unimaginable war, her son would go back to Ukraine. (Twice! This is my second visit since the 2022 invasion.)

If there’s a lesson to be gleaned from these musings, it’s that history is not bound by fixed patterns. On the one hand, that unpredictability explains how a tragedy like the Russian assault on Ukraine could happen when it was unthinkable just a few decades ago. On the other, it’s why the Ukrainian people have continued to defy the experts and analysts, fighting on for their future and their freedom. Four years after the RAND Corporation’s Samuel Charap predicted that Ukraine didn’t stand a chance, Ukraine still has not lost, and Russia still has not won.

People like Charap have been consistently wrong about everything on Ukraine. You can’t grasp the reality of the situation here from a Washington conference room.

That’s why I’m coming back to Ukraine. In the coming days, my colleagues and I will be visiting our humanitarian partners in Ukraine. RDI has delivered over $15 million in direct aid to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began. We’ll also be meeting with the government officials stewarding their country through its darkest hour. We’ll chat with Ukrainian business leaders working to ensure a prosperous future. And we’ll get to know the soldiers who charge into danger every day to protect their nation.

I hope these dispatches bring home the urgency of Ukraine’s fight, but also the resilience and inspiration this country embodies.

For now, it’s time to get some shut-eye. I’ve been traveling for more than a day and the Ambien is about to kick in. I’ll be back with more updates every day.

Don’t miss the next update from Ukraine! Premium subscribers to The Next Move will be the first to receive Ukraine dispatches—24 hours before anyone else. Your contributions support the work of the Renew Democracy Initiative, including humanitarian assistance to frontline communities in Ukraine.

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I am seeing what I know all of you are seeing too: the evisceration of American news media. The never-ending flurry of alarming headlines and push notifications amid eroding journalistic standards.

It’s easy to feel adrift in this kind of information environment. In fact, that sense of aimlessness is exactly what authoritarians want to cultivate. Flooding the zone is one of the oldest tricks in the aspiring dictator’s playbook. They pile on outrage after outrage, normalizing transgressions and numbing the senses. Should we care about ICE? Or Trump’s incoherence on Iran? Or that awful video of the Obamas? Do we need to pay attention to all of it or none of it at all? What outlets can we trust?

During The Next Move’s premium subscriber Zoom call on Tuesday, my friend Linda Chavez reflected on running into one of the Watergate burglars when she was a DNC staffer in 1972. Watergate! It sounds practically quaint these days. There are new Watergates seemingly ever hour, but consequences are in short supply.

But there are antidotes to that feeling of being overwhelmed. I find comfort in reading history. Understanding the past doesn’t guarantee a happy ending in the present, but it can provide structure to our strategies. Others stood before where we stand today, and there are lessons to be drawn from their experiences.

My latest read is Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Cold War Prophet, from Edward Luce, US national editor at the Financial Times.

Brzezinski climbed to the top of Washington’s foreign policy apparatus in the Carter administration, where he served as national security advisor. Poring over this biography, it’s hard not to hear echoes of the 2020s in the 1970s. Upheaval in Iran. An aggressive Russia. America adrift in the world.

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The debates about how the US should conduct its affairs abroad are familiar too. Advance (per Brzezinski)? Or retreat, and accommodate dictators (per Kissinger—may 2026 be the year Beltway institutions finally stop idolizing the guy!).

I want to talk with you about where America goes next, with the perspective only a good history can provide. Ed Luce has kindly accepted my invitation to join our next premium subscriber Zoom for a discussion on his book, Zbig, and a half-century of lessons for the US and the world. Ed’s a Brit, I’m a Russian, but we both have a lot to say about America, and we want to hear from you too. Join us on Wednesday, March 4 at 5pm ET/2pm PT. You can find registration information below.

This call is exclusive to our premium subscribers. Perhaps you recently canceled a subscription to an oligarch-owned newspaper. Might I humbly suggest that you put that money toward supporting mission-driven media like The Next Move?

I don’t receive a cent from your subscription fees—everything goes to supporting the work of The Next Move’s parent organization, the Renew Democracy Initiative. RDI is bringing political dissidents to tell their stories to students, business leaders, and public officials. Delivering life-saving humanitarian aid to frontline communities in Ukraine. And, of course, we’re driving the conversation here on Substack.

To help make the decision easier, we’re offering 30% off a premium subscription, now through March 4. I hope to see you on our next Zoom call! You can find registration info below (the signup link is just past the upgrade button if you’re a free subscriber):

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We’re just over two weeks into the new year, so I think it’s still fair to have resolutions.

Here’s one of mine: I want to talk directly with you more frequently. Real conversations.

To make good on that commitment, we’ll be hosting our next premium subscriber Zoom call on Tuesday, February 3 at 5pm ET (registration info below).

This isn’t a lecture. It’s an opportunity to actually get some face time with one another. A chance to check in and get your temperature on the issues that matter most in the fight for American democracy and freedom around the world. ICE. Iran. Venezuela. Russia-Ukraine. Greenland. It’s all fair game for discussion.

We’ve run several of these gatherings in the past, and the response is always gratifying. As one of our premium subscribers put it:

I have a number of Substack subscriptions, and attend a lot of geopolitical events in person and online. This open access format, genuine audience interaction, is really unique.

In order to preserve that interactive dynamic, these conversations will remain exclusive to premium subscribers (if you gift someone a subscription they’ll get access too). I encourage you to sign up. I probably sound like a broken record, but it bears repeating: I don’t get a cent from your subscription fees. The Next Move is a project of the Renew Democracy Initiative. Your support enables RDI’s important work delivering aid to frontline communities in Ukraine, bringing the stories of political dissidents to Americans who desperately need to hear them, and getting more content out here on Substack.

And speaking of premium subscribers—I took some time yesterday to sign chess sets for the winners of our last raffle (premium subscribers are automatically entered to win whenever we run these contests). It reminded me of all of the people doing their part for democracy, and I’m always flattered and grateful that you put your faith in me and the RDI/Next Move team.

I hope to see you on February 3. You can find the registration link below (I encourage you to upgrade to access it if you’re not already a premium subscriber). Space is limited, so don’t wait to sign up.

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Dear reader,

I’d like to invite you to our next event, exclusively for premium subscribers: How the Gaza War went global—a three-way Palestinian/Israeli/American conversation.

We’ll examine how the Hamas terror attacks of October 7, 2023 and an Israeli-Palestinian war turned into a global conflict and humanitarian crisis that has drawn in players from across the Middle East and warped domestic politics as far afield as the US and Europe.

The discussion will take place on Zoom next Tuesday, October 7 at 5pm ET/2pm PT. We have three excellent guests, and as always, this is an interactive conversation—not a lecture—so come ready with questions and comments!

As a participant in one of our recent Zoom calls told us:

I have a number of Substack subscriptions, and attend a lot of geopolitical events in person and online. This open access format, genuine audience interaction, is really unique.

Joining us next Tuesday will be:

Ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro, who served as US ambassador to Israel from 2011 to 2017. Ambassador Shapiro also served in the State and Defense Departments in the Biden administration and is currently a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council.

Ksenia Svetlova is a former member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. She previously worked as a journalist and reported from Syria, Libya, Egypt, Gaza, and the West Bank. Ksenia is currently executive director of the Regional Organization for Peace, Economics, and Security.

Samer Sinijlawi is a Palestinian political activist and founding chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund.

This conversation is exclusively for premium subscribers. Click below to upgrade and register.

On the fence about becoming a paid subscriber? We have a special offer to make the decision easier for you: $49 for an annual subscription—a 30% discount—now through November 8. Paid subscribers get exclusive benefits like access to interactive Zoom calls with Garry Kasparov and other leading voices in the pro-democracy movement.

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We are witnessing an unprecedented government assault on First Amendment freedoms in America.

To address the state of our Constitutional liberties, we will be convening an emergency Zoom call with Garry Kasparov for premium subscribers to The Next Move next Thursday, September 25 at 12pm ET/9am PT.

Let’s have a real conversation about the future of this country’s democracy, face-to-face.

This call is exclusively for premium subscribers. Click below to upgrade and register.

On the fence about upgrading? To celebrate our growing community of over 50,000 subscribers, if you upgrade in the next 50 days (by November 8), we are offering paid subscriptions for just $49/year (30% off the sticker price)!

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With polarization still rising and trust in our institutions continuing to erode, it’s more important than ever to create spa…

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Paid subscribers to The Next Move can get a sneak peak at one of the first installments of the Common Sense Club featuring Congressman Ritchie Torres with his take on breaking through people’s disillusionment with government. Stay tuned for the full video, coming soon!

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But this conversation isn’t just about history—it’s a warning. The enemies of democracy are no longer easy to recognize or contain. They operate in cyberspace, in gray zones, and in our elections. And while NATO remains strong inside its borders, deterrence has collapsed everywhere else. We’re living in a world where the old rules don’t apply—and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

You can watch the first part of the video for free. The full episode—along with other installments in our Whiskey Tango series—are available exclusively for paid subscribers of The Next Move. Your investment supports the Renew Democracy Initiative and sustains our efforts to offer a vision worth fighting for.

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US Air Force General Philip Breedlove served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, responsible for all NATO operations on the other side of the pond. He knows America’s friends and foes inside and out. With war underway between Israel and Iran, General Breedlove gives an unfiltered breakdown of the Islamic Republic’s capabilities: Tehran, its proxies, and accomplices can wreak havoc. But it’s all a mask for strategic weakness.

The question is this: When the moment strikes, will the US and its allies stand up for their interests? In an asymmetrical battle between democratic nations and the agents of chaos, hesitation is easily exploited.

You can watch the first part of the video for free. The full episode—along with other installments in our Whiskey Tango series—are available exclusively for paid subscribers of The Next Move. Your investment supports the Renew Democracy Initiative and sustains our efforts to offer a vision worth fighting for.

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Reliable public opinion polling shows that common ground in American politics is shrinking. That’s bad news for everyone—it means each camp retreats into its corner and solutions to pressing issues stagnate.

So we launched an experiment. We pulled together a group of friends with strong opinions on a wide array of pressing policy challenges and made them hash it out over dinner. Two of the topics they discuss—immigration and the war in Gaza—have been the catalysts for some of the most intense protests to take place on US soil in recent years.

Will the dinner explode or will these friends come out as role models for engaged citizenship at a time when it’s sorely needed?

You’ll have to watch to find out. The first few minutes are available to everyone, but the conclusion is exclusively for paid subscribers of The Next Move, just like our feature-length interviews in the Whiskey Tango series. Your investment supports the Renew Democracy Initiative, helps get out more content here on The Next Move, and sustains our efforts to offer a vision worth fighting for.

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He’ll take on critical questions about the war at home: Is the military too woke? Why are civilians in charge of the armed forces? When can officers speak out? And why is American freedom both an asset and a weakness in a global battle against authoritarians?

Tune in to find out. You can watch the first part of the video for free. The full episode—along with other installments in our Whiskey Tango series—are available exclusively for paid subscribers of The Next Move. Your investment supports the Renew Democracy Initiative and sustains our efforts to offer a vision worth fighting for.

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What made Osama bin Laden an effective leader?

Why hasn’t Russia nuked its enemies?

And why would a man who lost scores of relatives to Israel’s war in Gaza fight for peace in the Middle East?

Find out the answers to all of these questions and more with a paid subscription to The Next Move, which gives you access to incisive conversations from top thinkers like General Stanley McChrystal, General Ben Hodges, Major John Spencer, and Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib.

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If you think this war is someone else’s problem, Hodges is here to change your mind.

This is one of the most urgent interviews we've had. From NATO’s credibility to the threat of nuclear blackmail, this conversation explores what’s really at stake—and why the path to peace runs through victory, not compromise.

You can watch the first part of our interview for free. The full episode—and future ones like it—are available to paid subscribers of The Next Move. Your investment supports the RDI team and sustains our efforts to offer a vision for the future worth fighting for.

Check it out. Sit with it. And let us know what you think in the comments.

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