On November 19, Foreign Policy published a biweekly column featuring Scowcroft Center deputy director Matthew Kroenig and New American Engagement Initiative senior fellow Emma Ashford assessing the latest news in international affairs.
In the column, they debate intentions behind Russia’s latest military buildup near Ukraine and discuss possible solutions to the Belarus-Poland border crisis, including short-term liberalization of EU immigration policies and long-term efforts to address root causes of migration.
If the United States and Europe had imposed a steeper cost on Russia after 2014, Putin wouldn’t be contemplating more aggression. Now is the time for the United States to back its words with threatened actions that will follow further aggression, including increased military support to the Ukrainian government and more punishing economic sanctions against Russia.
Neither the United States nor its European allies were willing to fight Russia over a peripheral US interest like Ukraine in 2014, and I don’t think they’re willing to do so now.
