NATO Needs a Comprehensive Strategy for Russia

Abstract

Russia's continuing intervention in Ukraine, including its annexation of Crimea, presents an unequivocal challenge to European security. Russia's actions are not just a stark rejection of Euro-Atlantic integration; Russia has shattered the vision of a stable, secure, and economically healthy Europe that has guided North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union (EU) policy for two decades. The United States and other NATO members and partners are responding with tools readily at their disposal: economic sanctions on Russia and NATO conventional military measures geared toward demonstrating readiness and new capabilities. NATO leaders clearly stated their intent to continue on this path in the 2014 Wales Summit Declaration, when they announced a Readiness Action Plan that will create a more capable and responsive NATO Response Force and provide a more robust rotational presence in Eastern Europe. They also expressed support for the graduating economic sanctions that have been imposed upon Russia. These measures indicate a common rejection of Russia s actions and a shared commitment to certain concrete steps in response. There is broad agreement that NATO and the EU seek to make Russia pay for its aggression, deter plausible future Russian coercion and threats, reassure NATO member states, and help support the security of non-NATO states, especially Ukraine. However, neither the NATO Alliance nor its individual members currently have a comprehensive strategy for accomplishing these goals. This is not surprising. Not only do Russia s ambitions remain uncertain, but NATO and EU countries themselves face competing political and economic interests and pressures. The recent Munich Security Conference exposed these competing pressures in spades.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2015
Accession Number
ADA616004

Entities

People

  • Lynn E. Davis
  • Michael J. Mcnerney
  • Olga Oliker

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

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  • Air Platforms
  • Biomedical
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DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Baltic Countries
  • Central Europe
  • Command And Control
  • Command And Control Systems
  • Eastern Europe
  • Economic Sanctions
  • Germany
  • Governments
  • Information Exchange
  • Military Exercises
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Nato
  • Training
  • United States
  • Warfare

Readers

  • International Relations and European Studies
  • Strategic Security Studies