It would be reckless to forego the benefits of New START for US and Euro-Atlantic security, when as a practical matter there is nothing more effective that could be negotiated and put in place before it expires.
There is a growing reliance on high-readiness agile forces by Russian and Western militaries, but more thought needs to be given to their potential risks.
Andrew Wood considers what lessons, if any, are worth drawing for the situation today from the experience of navigating the Soviet-NATO interchange during the Cold War.
In two weeks time leaders will meet in London for NATO’s 70th anniversary summit. This is an opportunity for NATO to position itself as a regional alliance of democracies in a mostly illiberal environment.
NATO now needs to ensure that the INF Treaty’s collapse will neither exacerbate NATO-Russia confrontation, nor lead to a destabilizing arms build-up in Europe.
As most of the treaties that formed the core of the arms control system are either gone or being undermined, Russia and the United States no longer want to lead by example by carrying the bilateral burden of disarmament.