September 20, 2022
Biden’s Team Saved Ukraine by Learning from Its Mistakes
Much can still go wrong with the Ukraine war, but so far, President Joe Biden’s defense and national security teams have outperformed any administration since President George H.W. Bush, National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell responded to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. With one significant caveat. Team Biden hasn’t learned one of the most important lessons of that earlier administration: The primary role for the US in foreign affairs is to maintain international rules and norms, not to lead a fight for global democracy.
The weaker the Russian position becomes, the more likely it could still resort to extreme measures.
In the 21st century, national-security crises are bewilderingly complex, with cyber, energy and financial factors interwoven with traditional military and intelligence operations. Teamwork, interagency coordination, and bureaucratic and subject-matter expertise become factors all their own, equal in importance to the overall geopolitical strategy. The Biden team may not have a figure like foreign-policy legends Henry Kissinger or Zbigniew Brzezinski, but the administration, led by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, has compensated with sheer execution.
Read the full article and more from Bloomberg.
More from CNAS
-
A Tale of Two Russias: Views from Former Intelligence Officers
Podcast
Four years into its war in Ukraine, Russia continues to escalate attacks on the Ukrainian population while also dialing up its hybrid campaign against Europe. In the last six ...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Jim Townsend & Peter Schroeder
-
Podcast
Defense / Transatlantic Security
MWI Podcast: Europe’s Airspace Violations and the Counterdrone ChallengeJohn Amble is joined on this episode of the MWI Podcast by Dr. Stacie Pettyjohn, a senior fellow and director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security....
By Stacie Pettyjohn
-
The Return of Diplomacy to Great Power Competition
Podcast
On the surface, great power competition often seems driven by economic and military conflict, but diplomacy has always been central to great powers' engagement with the world....
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
What’s Driving President Trump’s New Confidence in Ukraine’s War Effort
Podcast
President Trump dramatically declared on social media that he now believes that Ukraine can reclaim all its land from Russia, which he described as a paper tiger. From the Ova...
By Richard Fontaine
