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
-
‘U.S. Military Leverage a Risky Tactic’: Bombs, Military Escalation Will Not Bring Iran ‘To the Table’
Genie Godula is pleased to welcome Jim Townsend, Adjunct Senior Fellow in the CNAS Transatlantic Security Program and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for E...
By Jim Townsend
-
Orban Out: The Impact on European Politics, Ukraine, and Democracy
On April 12, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban conceded defeat in the country’s general elections, which ousted his party Fidesz and ended his rule of 16 years. The electi...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
European Perspectives on the U.S.-Iran Conflict
On April 7, after more than five weeks of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 14-day ceasefire, provided Iran allows passage through the St...
By Andrea Kendall-Taylor & Jim Townsend
-
War in the Middle East: The U.S. Rescues Missing Airman from Iran
Jim Townsend, Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy and adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security joins France24 t...
By Jim Townsend