Was just in Vilnius last week; hadn't been there in 22 years. I can concur how European/non-Russian it felt 22 years ago and how far it has come since then.
It's good to be reminded of strong alliances in this time of fractions and conflict. It's been interesting and heartening to watch the Baltic states this past year---reminding everyone else "we told you so" about the dangers of Russia, supporting Ukraine in so many significant ways, and providing strong leadership. Hope to visit Tallinn someday!
The careful and thoughtful approach to developing both unilateral and multilateral alliances is crucial to ensuring democracy survives and is robust. We cannot confront either China economically or Russia militarily without strong committed allies. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown the world the value of strong alliances. It is a lesson we needed to relearn!
In trying to be brief, I erred. NATO is a military alliance with some shared values among the members. China/Russia, of course, enjoy no such military allies, the many countries opposing the U.S. in this war notwithstanding. Diplomatic support is a long way from Article 5-type assistance.
A good friend of mine, George Kent, is our new Ambassador to Estonia. It's a dream assignment for all the reasons you mentioned and more.
...please be careful of what you eat & drink 😳...
Was just in Vilnius last week; hadn't been there in 22 years. I can concur how European/non-Russian it felt 22 years ago and how far it has come since then.
It's good to be reminded of strong alliances in this time of fractions and conflict. It's been interesting and heartening to watch the Baltic states this past year---reminding everyone else "we told you so" about the dangers of Russia, supporting Ukraine in so many significant ways, and providing strong leadership. Hope to visit Tallinn someday!
Russia and China lack real allies? That’s not completely clear to me.
Russia has client states e.g. Georgia, some of the “Stans”; China has NK. But there is no economic strength that contributes to an alliance
The careful and thoughtful approach to developing both unilateral and multilateral alliances is crucial to ensuring democracy survives and is robust. We cannot confront either China economically or Russia militarily without strong committed allies. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown the world the value of strong alliances. It is a lesson we needed to relearn!
In trying to be brief, I erred. NATO is a military alliance with some shared values among the members. China/Russia, of course, enjoy no such military allies, the many countries opposing the U.S. in this war notwithstanding. Diplomatic support is a long way from Article 5-type assistance.