You'd never know it from this year's campaign, but Russia and NATO are engaged in the biggest military buildup since the Cold War. In addition to Syria and Ukraine, the next US president might be faced with Russian aggression in the Baltic States and puppets of the former Soviet Union. Vladimir Putin has deployed forces and talked about using nuclear weapons. Comparisons are being made to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. NATO has changed the name for its military buildup in the region from "reassurance" to "deterrence" and is responding with tanks and troops -- at a time when the European Union is weakened and American leadership is fraught with uncertainty.
In Eastern Europe, saber rattling — or risky escalation?
More
- Braw on NATO's need to strengthen its front line against Russia
- Braw on how the Baltic States are accommodating NATO troops
- Shlapak on reinforcing deterrence on NATO's eastern flank (wargaming the defense of the Baltics)
- Cohen on proposed Obama-Putin cooperation killed by its enemies in Washington, with dire implications
- Chollet's 'The Long Game: How Obama Defied Washington and Redefined America's Role in the World'
Credits
Guests:
- Elisabeth Braw - Atlantic Council - @elisabethbraw
- David Shlapak - RAND Corporation - @RANDCorporation
- Stephen F. Cohen - New York University
- Derek Chollet - German Marshall Fund - @derekchollet