By quadrupling military spending on NATO’s forces on Russia’s border, Washington risks turning the new Cold War into a hot one.
By Stephen F. Cohen
he Obama administration has just recklessly escalated its military confrontation with Russia. The Pentagon’s announcement that it will more than quadruple military spending on the US-NATO forces in countries on or near Russia’s borders pushes the new Cold War toward actual war—possibly even a nuclear one.
The move is unprecedented in modern times. With the exception of Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, Western military power has never been positioned so close to Russia. The Obama administration’s decision is Russian roulette Washington-style, making the new Cold War even more dangerous than the preceding one. Russia will certainly react, probably by moving more of its own heavy weapons, including advanced missiles, to its Western borders, possibly along with a number of tactical nuclear weapons. [Continue Reading]
After traveling to Russia for more than 30 years as a “citizen diplomat,” Sharon Tennison isn’t buying the war propaganda intended to demonize Putin and cast us back into a Cold War. Originally a nurse in San Francisco, she has traveled in Russia more extensively than most citizens of that country, taking fellow Americans there to see for themselves, finding future entrepreneurs to bring to the US on scouting trips, spreading the idea of Rotary International, speaking widely in both countries, writing an astonishing memoir called The Power of Impossible Ideas.