Politics

Those anxieties have been largely invented as an answer to an internal threat Putin was facing. He knew the Russian people have been getting fed-up of Putinism, and that has to be a major factor in the invention of this external threat.

Russia always seemed to me to have a problem accepting that you have to listen to the voice of smaller countries. Russia often seemed simply to assume that you get what you want if you're bigger, and more powerful.

I've sat in front of the chief ideologue in the Moscow Kremlin, and I remember him saying to us in so many words, that 'you cannot govern Russia unless you have a one-party state: Our job in the Kremlin here and now, is not to recreate the communist party, but it's to recreate the one party which will be the natural choice'. He didn't say it would be the only choice, (but I think that's what he meant), of the Russian electorate.

I don't think it was inevitable until the point where the tanks started rolling-in. It was unstoppable at that point… But 20 years ago, would we have realised this was going to happen? My sense would be absolutely not. I say this as someone who participated in a really sincere effort to reach-out to Russia, to include Russia in the cooperative mechanisms that work for us.

People are unable to keep secrets for long – somebody tells somebody who tells somebody else, before you know it they are writing a tell-all book or going out on TV shows to talk about it! That's how it happens, that is how things are exposed.

Founder of The Skeptics Society & Science Communicator

The more people that must be involved, the less likely the theory is to be true. A couple of people could pull it off, hundreds or thousands of people would have to be involved, and it's not likely because we would hear about it.

Founder of The Skeptics Society & Science Communicator

People ask why we're spending money on space exploration when we have problems here on Earth. The first reaction I have to this the fact that we've had wars, poverty, and homelessness long-before anyone went into space. It's not accurate to say, 'we're doing space exploration, and that's why we have poverty.' If we stopped space exploration, those problems wouldn't be solved, they haven't been solved in thousands of years.

Renowned Astrophysicist & Director of Hayden Planetarium

If Putin succeeds in Ukraine, it will show that democracy and the world's forces are not enough to stop him. Are we building a world where the rule of law means something? Or a world where the rule of law means nothing, and only firepower counts.

Ukrainian politician and head of Servant of the People party faction

Our story, our fight, the story of President Zelenskyy… these all come together in the story of how everyone is capable of more than the world expects of them, and what we expected of ourselves. It's only when we were asked what price we were prepared to pay that we found the truth; we were prepared to pay with our lives.

Ukrainian politician and head of Servant of the People party faction

We're afraid of living under constant terrorism, and the constant threat of a neighbour who wants to kill you and destroy everything you care about. The escalation is already here. He has already reached a point of escalation that we must not tolerate – he is already doing everything he is capable of.

Ukrainian politician and head of Servant of the People party faction

Deep fakes, are probably the most chilling example to me of it, as if you take a politician's face and you use deep fake technology to slightly change it in ways that are imperceptible to the politician and to you, the observer, but that make the face just change enough to make your brain trust and like that image of that person.

Neuroethicist & Duke Law professor specializing in neurorights and genetics policy

What has happened is that by relinquishing our influence, we have encouraged China and Russia to become even more active in the region. The competition with China and Russia is unfolding right within the Middle East.

U.S. National Security Advisor under President Donald Trump

Why don't we start with a fundamental step – ceasing to fund our own downfall? For years, we held onto the belief that welcoming China into the international order would prompt them to abide by established rules, liberalize their economy, and make their governance more democratic.

U.S. National Security Advisor under President Donald Trump

In a democracy, an informed citizenry can act as a driving force for more robust and effective foreign policies and strategies related to national security, thereby fostering peace and encouraging prosperity. However, the lack of such comprehensive education has been a stumbling block. Education is the linchpin in this process.

U.S. National Security Advisor under President Donald Trump

What makes him dangerous is an unwavering determination; those who suggest potential exit strategies are overlooking a key aspect of his character. Any off-ramp simply provides an opportunity for him to seek the next on-ramp.

U.S. National Security Advisor under President Donald Trump

This access has significantly altered what individuals and communities can accomplish, challenging traditional power dynamics. It's essentially a democratic revolution, wresting control from the conventional gatekeepers like intelligence agencies and the media.

Founder of Bellingcat, open-source investigation journalism network