An interesting little article

http://acus.org/new_atlanticist/estonia-nato

This article came across your humble correspondent's virtual desk a while ago, and in the interest of finally clearing it off, it was decided to post it on the blog. In sum, it's a little bit of a cheerleading for that fine American ally, Estonia. While President Obama and much of the rest of the US foreign policy establishment seems to be re-orienting itself away from Europe and toward more strategically significant areas, and with some even calling for the US to abandon NATO completely, the US-Europe dialogue seems to be in a bit of a trough after Pres. Obama's brief honeymoon period.

The alliance is worth keeping, but as with all relationships, it needs maintenance and communication. Additionally, NATO is an especially important tool for US relations with Russia. This article touches on the delicate relationship with Russia, as well as the ways that modernization of the alliance can strengthen it both internally and externally.

Written by former US Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker, Estonia in NATO manages to realistically and respectfully assess the abilities and challenges of small nations and their abilities to contribute to alliance power projection outside their immediate theater of operations. Where Ambassador Volker is particularly enlightening is his discussion of Estonia's counterattacks on cyber-warfare. Though Ambassador Volker is too polite to point it out, Russian hacking abilities represent a real and credible threat to American and alliance security,* and it is reassuring to know that the alliance is responding to these "21st century threats" proactively. Moreover, while tensions between Russia and the West are certainly less than in the past, it is clear that Moscow continues to regard much of Europe as in its sphere of influence. It would be foolish for western European policymakers to ignore pressure from Moscow, or to sell out their EU partners to the east for cheap energy supplies.

I spoke with a friend of mine earlier about perceptions of threats in Central Europe vis-a-vis their neighbors to the west. For many western Europeans, Central Europe sometimes merely an irritant which tends to prevent the gas from freely flowing, and for all the talk about European citizenship, some in Western Europe could really give two hoots about Russian muscle-flexing in the internal politics of EU nations and on the EU's border, as long as there's a Euro to be made.

It is certainly true that the ideological struggle with the Soviets has been won, and that certainly opens up the prospects of working with Russia in a constructive way. They have their interests; we have ours. That's fine, and reasonable. It is also true that the US simply cannot have the same relationship to Russia as its neighbors do -- as its neighbors must have. After all, they're neighbors. Nevertheless, the US should encourage alliance cohesion and help its partners recognize that energy policy is often security policy. For that, a strong, innovative, and healthy NATO is crucial. The article points out that every nation can contribute in big ways.






*I heard from a few IT people in Brno that the Russians tend to make the best anti-virus and anti-spyware software around, precisely because their fellow countrymen are also so good on the other end of it. Where your typical American hacker tries to break into the Pentagon for fun, your typical Russian hacker has already moved money from your bank accounts and bought 15 liters of borscht and a dacha for his mom. He's then hired by the mafia, or the government, or the government mafia to continue his work.