The problem is that while the US is the pre-dominant power in NATO, we do not have the level of control necessary to force the other members into things that lie outside the scope of the alliance (like defending a non-NATO country). We would actually have to persuade them to do so or take overtly coercive action, which would likely back…
The problem is that while the US is the pre-dominant power in NATO, we do not have the level of control necessary to force the other members into things that lie outside the scope of the alliance (like defending a non-NATO country). We would actually have to persuade them to do so or take overtly coercive action, which would likely backfire in the mid to long term.
I do not think that Putin, et al are too worried about NATO acting outside of their treaty obligations and moving to defend a non-NATO country. I think it is naive to think that a statement by any US President to the contrary would have a deterring effect.
And there isn't the political will in the US at this time to act unilaterally--especially not with whay amounts to a strong pro-Russia/Putin faction in the GoP.
Biden continues to do the best he can with what he has got.
Yeah, agreed - this "Biden is weak" narrative is really quite dumb. The jets were tactically not going to be that helpful. A no-fly zone commits us to war. Like you said, we're not going to war unless attacked. There's no way around this.
So it's a smart play to overemphasize anything where you can say "oh we don't want to escalate" - because it gives us cover to do all of the things that we were already doing - namely transferring a lot of other weapons and enforcing tough sanctions. Putin is clearly pissed about that stuff, calling the economic sanctions an act of war and threatening to attack the supply chains. But just like we can't commit troops, he can't attack NATO. So it just looks like saber-rattling, so far.
All of that said, it makes me sick on a daily basis what is being done to the Ukrainian people, and I understand the impulse to want to respond in kind on their behalf.
It makes me sick too. I understand plausible deniability yada yada yada. I agree with letting Europe take the lead as they are most as risk. But just once it would be soothing to have a leader do the RIGHT thing because it was the RIGHT thing, ie not allow a thug to commit genocide.
The problem is that while the US is the pre-dominant power in NATO, we do not have the level of control necessary to force the other members into things that lie outside the scope of the alliance (like defending a non-NATO country). We would actually have to persuade them to do so or take overtly coercive action, which would likely backfire in the mid to long term.
I do not think that Putin, et al are too worried about NATO acting outside of their treaty obligations and moving to defend a non-NATO country. I think it is naive to think that a statement by any US President to the contrary would have a deterring effect.
And there isn't the political will in the US at this time to act unilaterally--especially not with whay amounts to a strong pro-Russia/Putin faction in the GoP.
Biden continues to do the best he can with what he has got.
Yeah, agreed - this "Biden is weak" narrative is really quite dumb. The jets were tactically not going to be that helpful. A no-fly zone commits us to war. Like you said, we're not going to war unless attacked. There's no way around this.
So it's a smart play to overemphasize anything where you can say "oh we don't want to escalate" - because it gives us cover to do all of the things that we were already doing - namely transferring a lot of other weapons and enforcing tough sanctions. Putin is clearly pissed about that stuff, calling the economic sanctions an act of war and threatening to attack the supply chains. But just like we can't commit troops, he can't attack NATO. So it just looks like saber-rattling, so far.
All of that said, it makes me sick on a daily basis what is being done to the Ukrainian people, and I understand the impulse to want to respond in kind on their behalf.
It's frustrating how "invading a neighboring country is an act of war!" never seems to cross Putin's mind/lips.
It makes me sick too. I understand plausible deniability yada yada yada. I agree with letting Europe take the lead as they are most as risk. But just once it would be soothing to have a leader do the RIGHT thing because it was the RIGHT thing, ie not allow a thug to commit genocide.