Given. What's happening in the
world right now and it's going
on serve with you, given what's
happening in the world right now.
Is Americas. Leadership.
Under any question,
or do you think most of the world
is looking at us in regard to what's
happening in Ukraine with respect
and looking for our leadership?
They're looking at us with respect and
for our leadership,
but they're still doubtful in terms
of our commitment on the long term.
I think most countries say yes,
you're the world leader of
for democracy and freedom,
but we've watched you in the
past dozen years or so and
you've been moving away
from that commitment.
You've been pulling troops out of
the areas you've been committed to,
and we have doubts about what
America first means. As far as
our security is concerned. And
if you're not there for us
and we have to make our own
arrangements with other countries,
whether we have a separate European.
Security defence arrangement or whether
we align ourselves with a more autocratic
leadership throughout the world.
So there's a real challenge going on
in terms of democracy versus autocracy,
and I would say up until what
Putin did most recently.
We were trending toward the
autocratic movement with Turkey,
Russia with Hungary,
obviously with China and others.
General Mattis, same same
question in general and how.
Other than hating to see a
democratic country invaded,
how worried should we be in
the US about what's happening?
Well, it's a serious situation,
no doubt about it.
We're watching a man start the biggest
ground war since 1945 in Europe and
the kind of barbarism that we're
seeing by his troops is unconscionable,
and we cannot just stand here.
We can't look away and be who we are.
Morally, we're going to have to to man up.
We're going to have to get with our allies.
We're going to have to support other
democracies, and we're stronger.
Together as the Secretary General of NATO,
Jen Stoltenberg is put it and we
better not forget that lesson. How
worried are you about this? Getting
to be a shooting war involving us?
I'm not too worried about that
because I think Putin who is.
I wouldn't say he's totally rational.
I wouldn't say he's strategic.
I wouldn't say he's wise,
but I don't think he wants to commit suicide,
so I'm not too worried about that.
But at the same time,
lesser included offenses here
are serious enough to warrant a
very close review of where we
stand and what value our allies.
Bring us, we should never get
back to the point of forgetting
that we're stronger with allies.
And I'll ask both of you what what about
China you were you warn about China off.
Are they what are they doing right now?
Are they sitting back and kind of gauging
the pulse of the world? Yeah, both
China and Russia have the same view of
the United States they believe we're
on the decline that democracy is not
a an organizational principle that is
going to survive in the long term that
we are divided within in to the extent
that they can accentuate that division.
Then they become.
The other winners in that sense,
so I think they look upon democracies
as being weak, dysfunctional,
unable to make decisions.
Certainly not rapidly,
but even over the long term,
on the most trivial matters,
we still debate and argue, well,
that's kind of the essence of democracy
is to have differences of opinion.
They don't have to be concerned about that.
She champagne is all powerful.
Putin is all powerful within his country.
He doesn't have you to contend with.
He doesn't have to.
Congress can pass resolutions.
He doesn't have political opponents
who were not put in jail or murdered,
so their view was the same.
Diners on the incline, Russia,
certainly as a in terms of their oil and gas,
their military equipment.
They're really does second or third
rate in terms of everything else,
but nonetheless, China is,
I think, a pure competitor,
I think,
certainly economically they are powerful,
will become even more powerful.
1.2 or 3 billion people.
They have a A president who has a vision on
where he wants China to be in five and 10.
In 20 years and he intends to get there.
There are real weaknesses there as well,
but nonetheless both of them feel we're on
the decline and we have to prove that no,
we're not on the decline.
Democracy is the best form of producing
the greatest amount of prosperity
for the most people in the world,
and that that's the engine that's
going to drive the world economy.
You worry that we are our decline.
I'm worried that we're too divided.
I worry that we have become too too
hyper partisan that we're not sitting
down and talking to each other,
but shouting each other being more
extreme with each other we have.
We have taken the language and made it
more crude and cruel and disrespectful
and indecent to one another.
Under those circumstances they get
very hard to formulate policies
which have any long term support,
so we're just one election to
the next election fighting,
who's going to be in the majority
and without regard to the long
term strategic consequences of
what we're saying and doing.
Music do you see it the same way? Well,
in regard to China,
China had a choice to make.
When Russia commenced its re
commenced its invasion it.
Remember they invaded Ukraine in 2014 as
well and China made a fundamental mistake.
They decided to align with a
criminal that's going to pay,
and that probably strategically
could be the biggest penalty that
China will have incurred since it
began its rise as a modern powerful nation.
So I'm. I'm still concerned
whether or not the Americans,
primarily because we're Americans,
will will stay the course and stay strong.
Will the all the democracies hold together?
It is a concern,
but I think to that,
as Winston Churchill put it so well,
I can put a lot of things well.
Just trust the Americans.
Once they've exhausted all the alternatives,
they'll do the right thing.
You've got.