Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has stoked fears that Chinese President Xi Jinping is plotting his own aggression against Taiwan. The United States and its NATO allies seem to be “all in” on repelling Russia’s invasion, but how far will the US be willing to go to defend Taiwan, and has its longstanding policy of “strategic ambiguity” on that question really run its course?
COPENHAGEN – Two dangerous signals were sent from NATO’s Bucharest summit. The first was that Russia has reestablished a “sphere of interest” in Europe, where countries are no longer allowed to pursue their own goals without Moscow accepting them. The other was that all NATO member states are free to blackmail their partners into supporting their own narrow goals.
The first signal was sent when Ukraine and Georgia were denied the “Membership Action Plan” (MAP) that they sought. Several European heavyweights, led by Germany and France, said no, despite strong support for the idea from the United States.
The second signal was sent when Greece successfully vetoed membership for Macedonia, a move that reflected the two countries’ unresolved conflict over Macedonia’s name (which Greece insists must be Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia – FYROM – one of the most disgraceful acronyms harassing international politics today).
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