- February 10, 2022
With some 100,000 Russian troops positioned on Ukraine’s eastern border, President Putin has demanded concrete security guarantees from both the United States and NATO. These include, most importantly, an end to NATO’s eastward expansion and military non-alignment as well as a withdrawal of allied troops and weapons from former Warsaw Pact countries. Meanwhile, the United States and NATO have responded in writing. Their common goal is to seek dialogue with Russia and bring about de-escalation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is tirelessly engaged in talks with European allies, as well as with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The Ukraine crisis is a foreign policy priority of the Biden administration, even though the United States’ geopolitical orientation has shifted toward the Indo-Pacific in recent years and especially toward its strategic rival China. Could the very dangerous situation actually be defused by agreements between the United States, NATO, and Russia on arms control and transparency on maneuvers? Does the strong diplomatic engagement of the United States impress President Putin? Does it make him feel taken seriously as the leader of an important power in the world? Considering the Pivot to Asia, are we possibly witnessing for the last time that the United States is so much engaged in the peace and security of Europe? Are there signs that in the not-too-distant future the EU will be able to provide stability on the European continent itself? Podcast hosts David Deißner, Atlantik-Brücke, and Stormy-Annika Mildner, Aspen Institute Germany, discuss these questions with Sabine Fischer, senior fellow in the Research Division ‘Eastern Europe and Eurasia’ at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin, and Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger, former editor-in-chief for foreign policy and senior commentator at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
“America’s Choice – Der USA-Podcast” is a German-language podcast on U.S. politics, co-produced by the Aspen Institute Germany and the Atlantik-Brücke. The podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.
