Europe Must Confront Putin
The death of 298 innocent civilians on Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was the direct result of Vladimir V. Putin’s reckless geopolitical gamble in Eastern Ukraine — as well as the West’s weakness in countering him.
After the Cold War ended, most Western leaders optimistically assumed that Russia would develop like other former Eastern Bloc nations that embraced democracy and the market economy. This attitude was bolstered by new economic opportunities in Russia, particularly in the oil and gas sectors. As a result, European and Russian economic interdependence was encouraged.
When Russia invaded and annexed Crimea earlier this year, the West was by and large taken by surprise.… Seguir leyendo »