Russia

NATO Spending Less on Defense, Despite Russian Threat

By Kedar Pavgi, Defense One

The alliance’s easternmost members are ratcheting up their budgets as Russian threats loom.

Mac Thornberry Warns of Growing Threats in Face of Likely Obama Defense Bill Veto

Mac Thornberry, the new Chairman of the US House Armed Services Committee, accused President Barack Obama on June 23 of “holding hostage” the nation’s security by threatening to veto the annual defense appropriations bill, which passed the Senate on June 18 by seventy-one to twenty-five with “overwhelming bipartisan support.” Thornberry (R-TX), said the $612 billion […]

Secretary of Defense Carter: US and NATO Will Counter Russia’s ‘Efforts to Undermine Strategic Stability’

By Ashton Carter, Department of Defense

At a time when some have suggested our relationship is suffering from a crisis and others have questioned the staying power of our partnership, we know better.

NATO Ministers To Discuss New Powers for SACEUR

By Financial Times and NATO

From Kathrin Hille and Sam Jones, Financial Times:  Nato this week prepares to grant significant new powers to the alliance’s military chief to deploy troops, a move that currently requires a decision from all 28 Nato allies.

Here’s How We Give Putin Something to Think About

By Jeffrey Gedmin

Imagine Winston Churchill saying: “We’ve got to send Nazi Germany a clear signal. At the same time we have to recognize that the Germans do need their lebensraum.” It’s unthinkable. But that’s what the West keeps saying to Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The most recent example is United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond telling the BBC: […]

It’s Hard to Take Russian Propaganda Seriously. But We Must.

By James J. Coyle

Three Russian television stations interviewed Andrei Petkov from a hospital bed in Nikolayev, Ukraine, in April 2014. Rossia 1 described him, with a bandage on his nose, as an ordinary citizen attacked by neo-Nazis and nationalists; NTV named him a German spy for a secret European organization; and the National Independent News of Crimea identified him […]