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#williamcraftbrumfield I was honored to have lunch with a most fascinating man in the Tulane alumni center. He is a full professor of Russian studies. His name is William Craft Brumfield. Before coming to Tulane, he was a professor at Harvard for many years. He speaks Russian fluently. He has known Putin for 30 years.
His father served with the US Marine Corps in World War I. He was attached to French units. These units had 200,000 volunteers from Russia. The father developed deep friendships with some of these Russians. He came back from the war with deep praise for the Russian people. This piqued his son's interest in Russia.
This professor is an incredible photographer. He wrote one book that I will recommend for all of you-"Journeys Through The Russian Empire." He was full of praise for Ukraine. He made the following points:
1) For Putin, Ukraine is a sideshow. He wants to erase most Western influences in Russia. Putin is closely allied with The Russian Orthodox Church. Putin feels that he is on God's mission to return Russia to its traditional roots,
2) Putin will not conquer Ukraine. He will not be pushed out of Ukraine. As long as the west provides money, Ukraine will continue to fight. He sees this war lasting for years as the war in Syria has.
3) The professor said that nuclear weapons would not be used.
It was worth the trip to have this lunch.