The Return of Direct Defense in Europe
Meeting the Russian Challenge
Praeger Publishers Inc
Published on 31. January 2021
Book
Hardback
258 pages
978-1-4408-7469-7 (ISBN)
Description
The Cold War is over, but the danger from Russia has returned. This book explores the challenge Europe faces of building a 21st-century defense infrastructure and rebuilding NATO forces to confront Russia and other authoritarian states and movements.
Neither the return of the Russian threat nor Russia's seizure of European territory was anticipated or prepared for. The two core Western institutions-the European Union (EU) and NATO-expanded eastward but without shaping a defense structure designed for the direct defense of the continent. Since 2014, there has been a shift in thinking, with more allocation of resources to defense. However, with the crises in the EU and the shift in U.S. global defense policy-first with Barack Obama's focus on the Pacific and then with Donald Trump's reset-how the West deals with the 21st-century Russian defense challenge is a work in progress.
This book looks at the nature of these 21st-century challenges, which are as significant as the Cold War but require different responses and different means. The authors analyze how key European states and institutions are seeking to address the new situation by incorporating a wide range of interviews in every key NATO nation. The book concludes with a look forward at the decade ahead and at the flashpoints that could trigger European conflict.
Provides an overview on the new strategic context within which European states have to readdress defense challenges
Offers a series of case studies built around key nations involved in rethinking direct defense in Europe
Focuses on key building blocks of crafting a 21st-century approach to deterrence of Russia and to working with the United States
Concludes with a discussion of how European divergences and U.S. interactions with those divergences are reshaping NATO and the direct defense of Europe
Neither the return of the Russian threat nor Russia's seizure of European territory was anticipated or prepared for. The two core Western institutions-the European Union (EU) and NATO-expanded eastward but without shaping a defense structure designed for the direct defense of the continent. Since 2014, there has been a shift in thinking, with more allocation of resources to defense. However, with the crises in the EU and the shift in U.S. global defense policy-first with Barack Obama's focus on the Pacific and then with Donald Trump's reset-how the West deals with the 21st-century Russian defense challenge is a work in progress.
This book looks at the nature of these 21st-century challenges, which are as significant as the Cold War but require different responses and different means. The authors analyze how key European states and institutions are seeking to address the new situation by incorporating a wide range of interviews in every key NATO nation. The book concludes with a look forward at the decade ahead and at the flashpoints that could trigger European conflict.
Provides an overview on the new strategic context within which European states have to readdress defense challenges
Offers a series of case studies built around key nations involved in rethinking direct defense in Europe
Focuses on key building blocks of crafting a 21st-century approach to deterrence of Russia and to working with the United States
Concludes with a discussion of how European divergences and U.S. interactions with those divergences are reshaping NATO and the direct defense of Europe
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
ISBN-13
978-1-4408-7469-7 (9781440874697)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Robbin Laird, PhD, is a military security analyst who lives in Washington, D.C., and Paris. He is a fellow at the Williams Foundation in Canberra, Australia, and author of several books and articles on defense issues.
Murielle Delaporte is a graduate of Sciences Po in Paris and of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and is currently editor of a leading French defense magazine, Operationnels.
Murielle Delaporte is a graduate of Sciences Po in Paris and of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and is currently editor of a leading French defense magazine, Operationnels.