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Will Putin's Attack on Ukraine Revive NATO?

(Makor Rishon-Hebrew-25Feb2022) Prof. Shmuel Sandler - The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed to stand against the Soviet Union of Joseph Stalin, and lost its raison d'etre in the late 1980s with the breakup of the USSR. Due to fear of the revival of Russian hegemonic aspirations, many nations in Eastern Europe rushed to join NATO. However, its huge expansion to 30 members also resulted in a weakening of internal solidarity. In 2022, the Russian threat to Ukraine has reawakened fears of similar moves against other states in Eastern Europe. Will President Biden stand firm against the Russian president who appears to threaten values that the West holds dear, as President Reagan did against the Soviet Union? Israel needs to maintain its relationship with the U.S., while keeping an eye on its border with Syria, where Russia is dominant, and also on Iran's nuclear program. On January 19, 2022, President Putin met with Iranian President Raisi in Moscow. Israel should maintain a low profile in the current conflict. The U.S., as well, has no interest in giving Putin the opportunity to turn the Middle East into another area of conflict against the West. The writer, a fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, is president of Emunah-Efrat College in Jerusalem and a senior research associate at the BESA Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
2022-03-03 00:00:00
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