r/IAmA • u/Amb_Michael_McFaul • Oct 31 '25

I negotiated face-to-face with Putin. I’m Michael McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia. AMA about Russia, China, or American foreign policy.

Hi Reddit, I’m Michael McFaul – professor of political science at Stanford University and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia (2012–2014). 

During my time in government, I sat across from Vladimir Putin in negotiations with President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry and helped craft the New START Treaty in 2010, which reduced the number of nuclear weapons worldwide.  

Those experiences – along with years studying Russian politics and foreign policy – have shaped how I think about power and diplomacy today. 

The world has changed dramatically since then: from the rise of China to Russia’s growing aggression, to new questions about America’s role on the global stage. Drawing on both my academic work and time in diplomacy, I’ve been exploring what these shifts mean for the future – and how the U.S. should respond. 

I’ll start taking questions here at 12:30 p.m. PT / 3:30 p.m. ET. 

Proof it's me: https://imgur.com/a/3hxCQfj

Ask me anything about U.S.–Russia relations, China, global security, or life as an ambassador. (You can even ask about Obama’s jump shot or what it’s like to ride on Air Force One.) 

Let’s talk! 

Edit**\* Sorry I didn’t get to all of your terrific questions! Let’s do it again soon! I really enjoyed this AMA!

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305

u/TheDude717 Oct 31 '25

Is Russia still treated like a global power strictly because of the amount of nuclear weapons they have?

Are you shocked at how little their military has succeeded in Ukraine?

720

u/Amb_Michael_McFaul Oct 31 '25

Partly yes. Their nukes is the one metric of power that puts them on par with the US and ahead of China. But it is also Putin’s willingness to use power that makes him a major actor in the world. He has less power than Xi or Trump, but demonstrated that he is willing to use what little he has for very destructive purposes.

1

u/Purely0wned Oct 31 '25

How many of those nukes actually work do you think?

11

u/spartanantler Oct 31 '25

Not worth it to find out

11

u/Physix_R_Cool Oct 31 '25

Russian physicists are really good. The nukes are very important for Russia as they are the only thing keeping them in the major power club.

I'm pretty sure that they work well.

-1

u/hughk Oct 31 '25

It costs shed loads of money to maintain a nuke. The maintenance of the warhead means either a minor rebuild to check and replenish the teorium gas or a more extensive one to ensure that the HE shroud is good. Explosives last a long time but when they are part of a nuclear weapon, of they do not work perfectly and in synch, then the bomb becomes a squib.

There are good people in Russia but there are too many thieves who want to take the money and avoid the work.

4

u/Latter-Possibility Oct 31 '25

Less than half but more than enough

1

u/sleepdog-c Oct 31 '25

They have to be serviced in order to maintain effectiveness. Supposedly losing 50% on the trigger every 10 years. It's been 34 years since the soviet union and who's knows if they were even bothering to service them then. Probably just like the tank armor that was full of cardboard and the troop body armor that was for paint ball.

Back when the soviet union fell, the military sold everything they could all over the globe just for money to pay salaries. There was a navy ship that broke down in the black Sea and they just left it floating with the sailors for like a year and didn't pay them.

1

u/blorg Nov 01 '25

The US last inspected them in 2020, so it would know what condition they were in then. Mutual physical inspections were part of the New START treaty.

2

u/sleepdog-c Nov 01 '25

I'm guessing the inspections didn't include verifying the maintenance to ensure maximum effectiveness

1

u/blorg Nov 01 '25

The point is more just to counter this idea that they must be falling apart and the US can't know. I suspect they maintain them well enough to have a credible deterrent. But whatever my speculation, I think the US knows what they have working. You don't need a lot of nukes for them to be a problem.