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February 24, 2025, marked three years of Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion—three years of resilience, sacrifice, and a war that has reshaped global politics. As Ukraine faces mounting battlefield challenges and growing uncertainty over U.S. support, the war has reached a pivotal moment.

To coincide with this anniversary, Lawfare and Goat Rodeo are proud to present "Escalation," a gripping new narrative podcast that unpacks the complex and often surreal twists and turns in the U.S.-Ukraine relationship. Through exclusive interviews with over 50 diplomats, journalists, spies, and key decision-makers, Escalation tells the story of defining moments that shaped ties between the United States and Ukraine—from high-stakes diplomatic deals, impeachment and corruption scandals, and the largest land war in Europe since World War II.

"Escalation" co-hosts Anastasiia Lapatina and Tyler McBrien, and Benjamin Wittes spoke at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University for a timely and thought-provoking conversation at the intersection of journalism, diplomacy, and war. Together, they discussed the making of the podcast, shared behind-the-scenes insights, and explored what lies ahead for Ukraine.


Anastasiia Lapatina is a Ukraine Fellow at Lawfare. She previously worked as a national reporter at Kyiv Independent, writing about social and political issues. She also hosted and produced podcasts “This Week in Ukraine” and “Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World.” For her work, she was featured in the “25 Under 25” list of top young journalists by Ukraine’s Media Development Foundation, as well as “Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe” class of 2022 in the category Media and Marketing.
Tyler McBrien is the managing editor of Lawfare. He previously worked as an editor with the Council on Foreign Relations and a Princeton in Africa Fellow with Equal Education in South Africa, and holds an MA in international relations from the University of Chicago.
Benjamin Wittes is editor in chief of Lawfare and a Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. He is the author of several books.
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