The European Union's failure to align its legal, security, and financial policy toward Ukraine from 2008 onward created a context in which war became possible. Devoid of an overall strategy, the EU's incoherent and ambivalent approach was a recipe for disaster.
BERLIN – Contrary to what Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed, and what political scientists like John Mearsheimer believe, NATO enlargement did not cause Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nor did a sudden descent into irrationality by Putin, who, starting with his Munich Security Conference speech back in 2007, has long telegraphed his irredentist intentions. The key enabler of Russia’s invasion was European division and ambivalence, which left a void where there should have been a strategy.
BERLIN – Contrary to what Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed, and what political scientists like John Mearsheimer believe, NATO enlargement did not cause Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nor did a sudden descent into irrationality by Putin, who, starting with his Munich Security Conference speech back in 2007, has long telegraphed his irredentist intentions. The key enabler of Russia’s invasion was European division and ambivalence, which left a void where there should have been a strategy.