On January 27, Foreign Policy published its biweekly “It’s Debatable” column featuring Scowcroft Center acting director Matthew Kroenig and Emma Ashford assessing the latest news in international affairs.


In their latest column, they debate if German and US Leopard 2 and M1 Abrams tanks will turn the tide for Ukraine.

Instead of debating each weapons system, let us state [Ukrainian] victory as the goal and give Kyiv the weapons it needs to fight this war the way NATO would fight it: combined arms operations with fighter aircraft, tanks, infantry, long-range artillery and missiles, air and missile defenses—everything except nuclear weapons!

Matthew Kroenig

What about the problem of declining U.S. stockpiles of weapons and ammunition? Should the United States and its allies just empty out their stocks? There are real problems with increasing the production rate on many of these systems and ammunition types. Giving Ukraine everything it asks for risks leaving the United States exposed in other potential conflicts.

Emma Ashford

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