Dissent: Russia Unreliable as Military Partner

While the staff is correct to note that Russia is not an enemy, it is also not so strong an ally that it should be given an influential role in the United States’ most powerful military alliance. Even if Russia does not receive any veto power over NATO, the need to consult Russia and smooth over any active opposition will necessarily constrain the alliance’s actions.

In the past few years, Russia has frequently perceived its security interests as counter to our own. Russia voiced strong opposition to the NATO-led campaign in Kosovo and it has repeatedly used its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block enforcement of the sanctions against Iraq. Russia has also shown little interest in stopping nuclear proliferation, as its cash-strapped government has sought to sell reactors and other materials to Iran.

At the start of the war in Afghanistan, the need to consult and coordinate with so many allies led the U.S. to conduct many operations on its own. Including Russia in a “NATO at 20” will only make the alliance more unwieldy and less effective in assuring its members’ security.

The proper way to change Russia is not to make it a partner in NATO’s military planning, but to work to address the economic, social and legal conditions that make it an uncertain friend of the world’s democracies and an occasional supporter of many of the world’s dictatorships.

If Russia needs to be welcomed into the West, we should start preparing it to qualify for a different club—the European Union.

—Stephen E. Sachs ’02