The number of incidents between Russian and NATO warships and aircraft in increasing, and they are becoming more dangerous. That is documented by Ralph Clem and Ray Finch.
NATO
Russia and the West moving into state of more “professional antagonism”
The Russian Prosecutor General has declared Bard College an “undesirable organization”. This means that any Russian citizen who maintains a relationship with the American liberal arts school faces up to six years in prison, while all foreign professors and students are banned from Russia. Bard runs a mini-campus in Saint Petersburg, so the number of […]
The sorry state of collective European defense capabilities
Robert Dalsjö and Michael Jonsson in a great piece in War on the Rocks on the state of NATO and Europe’s ability to defend itself: This has led to at least two lively debates, one on just how deficient NATO’s defenses against Russia are, and the other on how to respond to the threat of […]
Russia is up to something: Probably about Belarus
The many incidents with the Russian military over the last few weeks are not a coincidence. It looks like a prelude to intervention in Belarus.
Russia’s A2/AD strategy is a myth
It is time to let go of the idea of impenetrable A2/AD bubbles. Russia does not have the technical capabilities to do it, and politically it is hard to see why they would even want to. We need to start thinking about Russia’s missiles as a layered defense system instead. That is the point of this conference paper.
Militarization in the Baltic and the Arctic compared: The Arctic is the dangerous place
The Arctic will not be a peaceful exception in a militarized world. In this post I compare the security situation in the Baltic and the Arctic. Both regions are militarized these days, but in very different ways. The most dangerous dynamics are in the Arctic, and it will get worse in the coming years.
Another example of how we overrate Russia’s air defense weapons
The British Air Vice-Marshal Simon Rochelle has some dramatic assumptions about the usability of NATO aircraft in future peer-level wars. But a new FOI report calls for more cool-headed estimates of Russia’s air defense weapons.
Why does Russia break the INF Treaty?
Before the INF Treaty collapses, it is worth pondering why Russia is building a missile that breaks it. I argue that it is because they want a conventional missile akin to Tomahawk. It is silly if we turn this into a nuclear race.
We need better IR theories to explain Russia
Traditional theories about International Relations are simply not good enough to explain what is going on between Russia and the West. Andrej Krickovic delivers the argument in this policy memo for PONARS Eurasia.
Europe hopes for status quo but must prepare for NATO without U.S.
Interesting and pessimistic take on the future of NATO by Sten Rynning in War on the Rocks: In this short essay, I argue that NATO is actually witnessing a return of European geopolitics that runs in parallel to the questioning of geopolitical priorities occurring in the United States. European allies clearly prefer continuity when it […]