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Suwalki Gap to Syrian Skies in the New Cold War
Stephen F. Cohen, NYU, Princeton University, EastWestAccord.com
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“…Last
Tuesday, NATO defense ministers agreed to send 4,000 troops to Poland
and the Baltic States, with many on either side of the Suwalki gap.
On the same day, Russia began a week-long series of snap exercises.
NATO countries are simultaneously participating in the largest
military exercise in Poland since the end of the Cold War. The
Pentagon has proposed quadrupling its spending on European security
in the fiscal 2017 budget and calls the program the European
Reassurance Initiative.
On
Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared on Fareed Zakaria's
show on CNN to play down the idea that his country and NATO were
edging toward a "new cold war." He accused NATO, along with
the Ukranian government, of "scaremongering" after the
annexation of Crimea. "If we stick to this very logic, the
scaremongering, that's probably the way to a cold war,” he told
Zakaria, through a translator.
“The
United States, Britain, Germany, Canada and Poland will all
contribute "battle groups" of about 800 soldiers that would
be in place as early as 2017. Britain's battle group, according to
the Financial Times, will be based in Estonia. The Americans are
likely to be based in Poland, the Germans in Lithuania and the
Canadians in Latvia. The particulars will be ironed out at a NATO
summit in Warsaw next month.
“It
is unlikely that the Suwalki gap itself will see much troop buildup,
but the battle groups are meant to give a sense of security that the
gap fails to provide. Russia has more than 50 warships based in
Kaliningrad, as well as submarines, land troops, two air bases and
scores of nuclear-enabled missiles. Belarus, on the other side, is
seen as firmly within the Kremlin's orbit...”
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