If the US is to continue to be able to secure its interests, it must be willing to draw hard lines with regards to its partners. It cannot constantly be trying to placate partners who are stridently against those interests, no matter the history.
Category: Europe
[ACE Explainer] Who is Fighting in Ukraine?
The Realist Review is pleased to provide this briefer courtesy of the Alliance for Citizen Engagement (ACE). Since the Russian Federation’s annexation of Crimea through military action in March 2014, Ukraine has been a state plagued by conflict.
[ACE Explainer] EU and NATO Expansion in the Soviet Bloc
The Realist Review is pleased to provide this briefer courtesy of the Alliance for Citizen Engagement (ACE).
The Baltic States: Assets or Liabilities?
Regardless of NATO’s treaty obligations, there is no strategic value in fighting a war on Russia’s border to defend three countries that contribute virtually nothing to U.S. national security.
National Security Priorities for the Biden Administration
By Fiona Harrigan President Joe Biden’s campaign success largely hinged on promises of change. He spoke of prioritizing alliances, promoting U.S. leadership abroad, and transmitting American values across the world. In the first weeks of his presidency, however, he fell into a concerningly familiar foreign policy rut. By the one-month mark, he had dropped bombs … Continue reading National Security Priorities for the Biden Administration
Biden and Belarus
By Jack Corso Despite the downturn in coverage by western media outlets over the past few months, the popular movements in Belarus against Alexander Lukashenko, the incumbent president, have continued. Lukashenko’s unpredictable behavior has been on full display in recent months as he seemingly expressed a willingness to step down if constitutional reforms were implemented. … Continue reading Biden and Belarus
Belarus Arrests Realign Attention to the Shadow World of Russia’s Private Military Companies
Image Source: Belta News By Anastasia Couch When the Belarus protests were still burgeoning, Minsk officials arrested 33 men for suspected involvement with Russia’s private security group, Wagner. A Minsk-based source reports that the arrested men held alleged connections with two known citizens of Belarus who each face criminal counts of instigation and suspicion of … Continue reading Belarus Arrests Realign Attention to the Shadow World of Russia’s Private Military Companies
In the COVID era, the EU is its own stumbling block
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, with a virtually present Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany (Getty Images) By Zack Blumberg As its leaders try to push ahead with grand ambitions, the EU is waylaid by itself. When Germany officially assumed the European Union (EU) Council presidency on June 1 of this year, its … Continue reading In the COVID era, the EU is its own stumbling block
In Belarus, Europe’s last dictator faces a reckoning
An anti-Lukashenko rally at the Belarusian embassy in Moscow, August 11, 2020. Picture by David Saveliev By Zack Blumberg, contributor Over the course of the past week, protests have engulfed the small nation of Belarus. Frustrated citizens coalesced around the campaign of upstart presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and have come out in force to voice … Continue reading In Belarus, Europe’s last dictator faces a reckoning
Nationalism Strikes Back in Eastern Europe
By Guzi He In 1989, momentous events prompted Eastern Europe to break free from the chains of soviet communism. Negotiations with civil society in Poland did away with one-party rule in April. Hungary followed suit five months later, commencing its own “Round Table Talks”. Then the Berlin Wall fell on November 9th. Germans on both … Continue reading Nationalism Strikes Back in Eastern Europe
