May 22, 2017
Russia's main target is not the US or NATO but the EU
“It is not Russian military power that is threatening us, it is Russian political power,” George Kennan once said in a speech to the Army War College in 1947. Similarly, Russian leaders today undoubtedly fear the further expansion of NATO eastward. But they also consider the European Union (EU) to be their primary strategic competitor.
This fact is often overlooked by policymakers on this side of the Atlantic as Washington focuses its attention on Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine or its interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. But Washington should do more — in concert with Europe — to protect the EU from Russian meddling, influence and subversion.
Read the full commentary in The Hill.
More from CNAS
-
A Report Card for Europe’s Defense Industry
As the war in Ukraine rages on, Ukraine has struggled this summer with a munitions shortage. With U.S. supplies strained by the war with Iran, European governments are having ...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
Sep 04, ’26 Washington Roundtable
Jim Townsend, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, joins the Defense & Aerospace Report Podcast to discuss the latest on the Iran War, Russi...
By Jim Townsend
-
Putin Says Ukraine Peace Deal Is Possible: Is This a New Path to Peace?
Jim Townsend, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, joins Al Arabiya English to discuss Russian president Vladimir Putin's comments on reaching a...
By Jim Townsend
-
A Surprise Moscow Visit and Russia vs. the West with Hanna Notte
Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe made a highly unusual visit to Moscow this week. Although we don’t know with certainty everything that was discussed, multi...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend