Bridging the Missile Defense Gap
NATO leaders will gather in Chicago on May 20 to set new directions for the alliance. Russia was invited to attend, in part to mark the 10th anniversary of the Russia-NATO Council, a consultative group designed to engage the former adversaries in defense planning. But President Vladimir Putin is staying home because of an impasse on what has become the single greatest source of friction between NATO and Russia: U.S. missile defense deployments in Europe, the nucleus of a wider future NATO system.
Missile defenses will ostensibly protect allies against limited regional threats from the Middle East, but Moscow fears the system will eventually undercut its nuclear deterrent and has threatened dangerous military countermeasures.… Seguir leyendo »