Ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern returns to the show to follow up on Russia-United States relations in the aftermath of Vladimir Putin’s recent speech in which he unveiled new nuclear weapons. McGovern details the history of Russian-American relations, dating back to the days of the USSR from World War II to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the lead up to the Vladimir Putin years of the present. McGovern draws parallels between the Cuban Missile Crisis and the current escalation of tensions and explains how close the United States and Russia came to a full nuclear disarmament during the Reagan years. Scott and McGovern then discuss how American intervention in Ukraine over the past five years has provided flint for the fire today. Finally, McGovern tells Scott the message he pleaded with George HW Bush to pass on to his son in the lead up to the Iraq War.

Ray McGovern is the co-creator of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and the former chief of the CIA’s Soviet analysts division. Read all of his work at his website: raymcgovern.com.

Discussed on the show:

• “Putin Announces New Generation of Nuclear Weapons,” by Scott Horton (Libertarian Institute)
• Tommy Thompson
• Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
• Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)
• “Putin’s ‘Invincible’ Missile Is Aimed at U.S. Vulnerabilities,” by David Sanger (The New York Times)
• Mikhail Gorbachev
• Fritz Ermarth
• “Ronald Reagan’s Disarmament Dream” (The Atlantic)
• “Gorbachev Told NATO Wouldn’t Move Past East German Border” (The National Interest)
• “McCain: Rand Paul ‘working for Vladimir Putin’” (The Hill)
• Jack Matlock: “The source of missile deployment in Eastern Europe is to create jobs for American manufacturers and employees” (YouTube)
• Jack Matlock
• “09/03/14 – Jack Matlock – The Scott Horton Show” (ScottHorton.org)
• “Ukraine conflict: US ‘may supply arms to Ukraine’” (BBC)
• “Russian mercenaries said to be killed by U.S. airstrike in Syria” (Washington Post)
• Israeli consul general in New York to Jodi Rudoren “Let them both bleed, hemorrhage to death” (New York Times)
• Brent Scowcroft
• “Don’t Attack Saddam,” by Brent Scowcroft
• Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall, and Catastrophic Legacy, by Andrew Cockburn
• The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, by John Mearshimer and Stephen Walt
• “Putin: I Kept Trying to Tell You; You Wouldn’t Listen,” by Ray McGovern (RayMcgovern.com)

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash, The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; LibertyStickers.com; TheBumperSticker.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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