American democracy relies on nonpartisan civil servants to detect and combat corruption. Alexander Vindman was one such civil servant when he reported abuses of power by former President Trump, resulting in Vindman being fired from the federal government and retiring from the armed forces. Vindman discusses what a second Trump administration and Project 2025 would mean not only for democracy in the US, but also in Ukraine. Vindman explains the history of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and its implications for global democracy. Alexander Vindman is a retired US Army lieutenant colonel and an expert in national security. He has previously served as the director for European affairs on the United States National Security Council, the political-military affairs officer for Russia at the Pentagon, and as an attaché at the American embassies in Moscow and Kyiv. In addition to being a Hauser Leader at Harvard University and a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s Foreign Policy Institute, he is a Kettering Foundation Senior Fellow.