Alexander Vindman tells an immigrant’s story from Ukraine to the U.S. in ‘Here, Right Matters’
As a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, Alexander Vindman served this country in combat (he earned a Purple Heart after being wounded in Iraq in 2004), before working with the National Security Council, where he began working in the summer of 2018. That assignment sounded perfect for Vindman, who was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, nearly 50 years ago.
But he found himself immersed in a scandal when, as director for European Affairs for the NSC, he became a whistleblower after U.S.-Ukraine meetings led to abuse of power charges that led to the first impeachment of President Donald Trump. Two years ago, Vindman retired from the Army and has since pursued a Ph.D. and done public speaking, while also working on his book, “Here, Right Matters: An American Story,” which documents a youth in Ukraine, which led to a relocation to the United States, where Vindman and his twin brother found their path serving in the U.S. military.
His memoir is an immigration tale, a coming-of-age story and also a complicated narrative about the complexities of our diplomacy, politics and culture. Vindman will speak Thursday through the Progressive Forum in Houston. He fielded a few questions about his book.
Q: I thought we could try to do this chat without mentioning a particular name.
A: I’m happy to do that. I’m in a café and getting ready for a meeting in a half hour. But yes. Let’s try.
Q: There’s a moment in your book where you’re driving to a wedding in Rhode Island and things between you and your father exploded. To me, that was the fulcrum of the book: then/not, right/left, here/there.
A: Sure. I’m glad you mentioned that. I don’t know if I felt that at the time, the way you mention it. But as soon as you start to talk about these ideas, these tensions, I guess it was a fulcrum, but one with a hopeful twist or conclusion at the end of it. The rest of the story might be that this was an opportunity for long and informed discussions about information and facts. And principles won over disinformation.
Q: If you don’t mind, tell me more about your father and how you got there.
A: My dad is an amazing individual. But he’s somebody who bought into some hype. But being able to sit down with him, I have an advantage: My dad will listen to me. And that doesn’t expand to every situation. You can have people with tight connections who have a conversation and they don’t come to any resolution. But we came to a resolution. I think that’s a powerful way to explain that moment.
Q: The promise of this country has a certain sway.
A: That’s an interesting point. And I think that’s why there’s something eye-catching, primally eye-catching, about disinformation. There’s this preconceived notion that there are hubristic things we latch onto, and they’re more enticing and powerful than facts. It takes a huge amount of energy to overcome that disinformation. We need to develop systems, whether as individuals or as a country, we have to deal with the ways this bad information can go viral. The best thing we can hope for is a process where people develop a resistance to misinformation. It takes a critical eye. Don’t buy into this eye-catching information.
Q: The immigration story is crucial to this book. It covers hopes and aspirations, it covers a need to escape a bad situation. … And then you found yourself in an incredible story that has become more relevant over the past year.
A: I’ll say something about this. That’s why I wrote this book. I wanted to explain how I’m here and why. There were mistakes made in U.S. national security, and we are seeing the results of that today. This corruption led to a geopolitical earthquake where we’re discussing nuclear war and Russia and Ukraine. The more apparent risk I saw was to the U.S. democracy. I responded to that viscerally as an Army officer and as someone who swore to defend the United States from enemies near and far. To me, that was just a basic notion of what was right, of justice. That worked with my family history as well. There’s a deep history there before you get to this World War II refugee story and my misspent youth and subsequent discipline. I found my purpose in public service. That’s a big part of this story. It required a bit of self-exploration to explain that. But doing so helped me understand, with clarity, why things turned out the way they did.
Q: You have been nurtured and assailed by the nation. Where do you stand today with it?
A: For me, it’s impossible to not be passionate about this topic. On one hand, there’s this profound loss. This feeling where nothing can be gained. On the other hand, I feel profound joy. The sum total, I refer to as privilege … these things that really matter. I definitely think about my daughter when I have to make weighty decisions. And I take pride in the fact that I don’t have to explain my actions. They’re self-explanatory. I don’t have to equivocate. I can take pride on making the best decisions I could.
Q: Accountability feels like a dead thing in our country. It’s always somebody else’s fault.
A: That’s interesting, and I think impunity deserves mention. The powerful always sought impunity. Not just in the United States. And there’s been an erosion that is a bad precedent. This notion of impunity, Tr- … sorry, I almost said the name. But his comment about shooting somebody in New York on Fifth Avenue or Sixth Avenue, a lot of people accept that. That is a telling moment. It’s a perennial struggle: accountability and impunity. And many of us struggle with accountability. But impunity means a lawlessness that other
parts of the world let go.
Q: So here we are, nearing the end of 2022. Do you feel hopeful? Anxious?
A: I can tell you, I feel anxious, but also hopeful. Anxious because I feel we have a lot of challenges. There’s reassurance in our history, with all of its progress and setbacks. But the arc bends toward progress. But we’re in a moment full of setbacks. There’s reason for anxiety. These geopolitical earthquakes contribute to that. And domestically, we’re at risk. … But I think the next generation, in many ways, will have to deal with so many challenges that the past generations didn’t. But as a father, I have to live with hope.