#234: Professor Paul Robinson (pt 2) - Proxy, Peace, or Prolonged Pain?

I sit down once again with Professor Paul Robinson to continue our exploration of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war. We dive into the uncomfortable questions rarely addressed in mainstream media: Have Western sanctions actually worked? Why does media silence dissent within Ukraine? And is Canada’s role sustainable—or even justified—in a war with no clear end?

From examining the economic reality of sanctions and shadow fleets to questioning the strategic silence on Ukraine’s democratic backsliding, this conversation pulls no punches. We also explore the uncomfortable truth about Western foreign policy’s double standards, and whether Ukraine is being used as a proxy in a much larger geopolitical chess match.

Professor Robinson and I also tackle the peace process—if it can even exist—and the uneasy truth that peace often means compromise no one wants to make. We dissect the differing diplomatic philosophies between the Biden and Trump camps, the shifting Overton window in Canada, and the quiet erosion of civil society’s voice in the name of “duty.”