If you talk to anyone this week they’ll say that Russia may be closer than ever to invading Ukraine. But why? President Vladimir Putin has drawn a red line over further NATO expansion but Washington isn’t budging, leading to the critical standoff we see today. Joshua Shifrinson, associate professor at Boston University and author of Rising Titans, Falling Giants: How Great Powers Exploit Power Shifts, walks us through the history and missteps that brought us to this place, and whether he thinks war is on the horizon. In the first segment, Kelley and Dan talk about whether NATO has gotten too “big and baggy” to even be effective anymore.
More from Joshua Shifrinson:
Acting too aggressively on Ukraine may endanger it — and Taiwan: Washington Post — 12/21/21
Russia, a problem, not a threat: Newsweek — 4/21/21
The dominance dilemma: The American approach to NATO and its future: Quincy Institute brief — January 2021
Did NATO start the fire? Joshua Shifrinson on the US-Russia crisis