U.S.-Russia relations today reflect a classic case of the security dilemma. Mutual suspicion between Moscow and Washington go beyond natural concerns about each other’s build-up of offensive capabilities. Each state considers the other’s enhancement of defensive capabilities (and international defense commitments) threatening. For example, Moscow views the U.S.-led ballistic missile defense project as a threat to Russia’s nuclear deterrent capability, while Washington and Europe consider military exercises in Russia’s westernmost regions and in Belarus in 2010 and 2011 as rehearsals of suspiciously harsh reprisals against neighboring NATO and neutral states. […]
Memo #:
176
Series:
2
PDF:
PDF URL:
http://www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/ponars/pepm_176.pdf
