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Rewind and Reconnoiter: It Will Take More Than A Biden Victory to Solve NATO’s Strategic Malaise with Sara Moller

September 5, 2024
Rewind and Reconnoiter: It Will Take More Than A Biden Victory to Solve NATO’s Strategic Malaise with Sara Moller
Rewind and Reconnoiter: It Will Take More Than A Biden Victory to Solve NATO’s Strategic Malaise with Sara Moller

Rewind and Reconnoiter: It Will Take More Than A Biden Victory to Solve NATO’s Strategic Malaise with Sara Moller

Sara Bjerg Moller
September 5, 2024
In 2020, Sara Moller wrote “It Will Take More than a Biden Victory to Solve NATO’s Strategic Malaise” where she argued that the Biden administration needed to pursue bold reform to revitalize NATO. In the wake of NATO’s recent 75th anniversary summit, we invited Sara back to reflect on the relationship between the United States and NATO.Read more below.Image: Gage SkidmoreIn your 2020 article “It Will Take More than a Biden Victory to Solve NATO’s Strategic Malaise” you argued that, should then-candidate Joe Biden win the U.S. presidential election, his administration should pursue bold reform to revitalize NATO and prepare it for conflict with state powers. In the past four years, what reform was pursued and has NATO made significant strides to reorient itself to eliminate the strategic malaise it has faced?First, it’s important to acknowledge that while the Biden administration deserves credit for improving the tone of relations between Washington and its allies, no one has done more to revive NATO in recent memory than Vladimir Putin. In late winter 2021, like many others, I didn’t think Russia would go “all the way” — that is, attempt to capture Kyiv and launch a full-scale war against Ukraine. Instead, I anticipated a more limited Russian military effort, focused on the eastern regions of Ukraine. Clearly, that’s not what happened. My mistake was overestimating Putin’s strategic intelligence. I recall telling a colleague at the time that there was “no way” Putin would initiate a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as it would be the one move that could unify a still-divided NATO against Russia. And that’s exactly what happened. So, in that sense, at least, I was right.The 2022 invasion and the ongoing brutality Russia has inflicted on Ukraine shocked the world, but especially European citizens and their political leaders, who overnight had to grapple

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In 2020, Sara Moller wrote “It Will Take More than a Biden Victory to Solve NATO’s Strategic Malaise” where she argued that the Biden administration needed to pursue bold reform to revitalize NATO. In the wake of NATO’s recent 75th anniversary summit, we invited Sara back to reflect on the relationship between the United States and NATO.Read more below.Image: Gage SkidmoreIn your 2020 article “It Will Take More than a Biden Victory to Solve NATO’s Strategic Malaise” you argued that, should then-candidate Joe Biden win the U.S. presidential election, his administration should pursue bold reform to revitalize NATO and prepare it for conflict

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