Rand Paul Vs. Ron Paul On Ukraine – How Should Libertarians Respond To Russia?

Libertarian Foreign Policy Problems On Full Display Over Crimea Conflict

The Freedom Report podcast today takes on the difficult issue of the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea in Ukraine, specifically the differing responses from Senator Rand Paul and former congressman Ron Paul. Whose response was technically more libertarian?

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Congressman Ron Paul issued a statement that Crimea “seceded” from Ukraine, cited U.N. international law and said it’s none of our business, while Senator Paul took a different tack, chastising Vladimir Putin and calling for America to flood the market with cheap oil and work to undermine Russia economically. The divide between the two approaches has polarized the liberty community, forcing a foreign policy debate that has exposed the deep fissures in the movement.

Isolationist sentiment has reared it’s ugly head with some people saying explicitly they don’t care what happens in Europe, while others have claimed non-intervention with an overt message of support to libertarian activists who opposed the Russian invasion and sham elections. Meanwhile, Neoconservative interventionists such as Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post are pouncing on the opportunity to paint the entire movement as ignorant on foreign policy. Can a small band of freedom fighters get their act together to present a coherent foreign policy to the American people?

All that and more on the Freedom Report podcast!




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