SIWPS Member Stuart Gottlieb argues in Foreign Affairs today that the European Union’s reluctance to impose strong sanctions on Russia over Ukraine is a direct result of U.S.-supported efforts in the 1990s to foster economic and political integration between Russia and other European states.

“Although the original policy [of political and economic integration] was hailed as a way to ensure that Russia would be incorporated into the Western economic and political order — and therefore would be less of a threat to the West — it may have actually decreased the West’s ability to deter Russian aggression against other countries.”

The article, titled “The Dark Side of Interdependence: How Global Ties Tied Our Hands in Russia”, was co-authored by Eric Lorber.

Read the article in its entirety on the Foreign Affairs website.