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The shambles of the past is no guide to the present. Wess Mitchell, the State Department official in charge of Europe, is a hawkish heavyweight who has devoted his career to the security of central and eastern Europe. Fiona Hill, the Russia director at the National Security Council, is a widely respected expert and co-author of a sizzlingly critical biography of Mr Putin. (Disclosure: both are friends of mine.)
At a more senior level, Mike Pence, the vice president, is pitch-perfect in his commitment to containing Russia and defending allies. So is Jim Mattis, the defence secretary, and HR McMaster, the national security adviser.
That contrasts sharply with the Obama-era White House, where America’s European allies frequently struggled to get a hearing and senior officials all too often pooh-poohed their concerns.
Mr Obama’s disastrous “reset” of relations with Russia in 2009 sacrificed allies’ interests in the illusory hope of a rapprochement with the Kremlin. His administration abruptly cancelled a hard-fought missile-defence base in Poland, and did so on September 17, the anniversary of the Soviet invasion in 1939.
As that woeful timing suggests, the State Department was in a mess then too. John Kerry, the former secretary of state, preferred personal diplomatic crusades to reforming the dysfunctional bureaucracy he bequeathed to Rex Tillerson.
The Obama administration also fiercely resisted congressional efforts to impose sanctions on Russia.
Mr Trump’s crude threats to withdraw security guarantees from countries that do not spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence breached the rhetorical rules. However they spurred more spending. European countries have finally started defence planning and coordination — albeit pragmatically; grandiose dreams of a European army remain just that.
The biggest result of the increased focus on defence is the bleak realisation that dangers are growing and that European countries, regardless of whether they are in or out of the EU and Nato, have no chance of defending themselves without American help.
We may find Mr Trump aesthetically and morally reprehensible. But in many respects that directly concern us and our allies, his administration is still markedly better than its predecessor.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/t...bama-bcr82cr8p
At a more senior level, Mike Pence, the vice president, is pitch-perfect in his commitment to containing Russia and defending allies. So is Jim Mattis, the defence secretary, and HR McMaster, the national security adviser.
That contrasts sharply with the Obama-era White House, where America’s European allies frequently struggled to get a hearing and senior officials all too often pooh-poohed their concerns.
Mr Obama’s disastrous “reset” of relations with Russia in 2009 sacrificed allies’ interests in the illusory hope of a rapprochement with the Kremlin. His administration abruptly cancelled a hard-fought missile-defence base in Poland, and did so on September 17, the anniversary of the Soviet invasion in 1939.
As that woeful timing suggests, the State Department was in a mess then too. John Kerry, the former secretary of state, preferred personal diplomatic crusades to reforming the dysfunctional bureaucracy he bequeathed to Rex Tillerson.
The Obama administration also fiercely resisted congressional efforts to impose sanctions on Russia.
Mr Trump’s crude threats to withdraw security guarantees from countries that do not spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence breached the rhetorical rules. However they spurred more spending. European countries have finally started defence planning and coordination — albeit pragmatically; grandiose dreams of a European army remain just that.
The biggest result of the increased focus on defence is the bleak realisation that dangers are growing and that European countries, regardless of whether they are in or out of the EU and Nato, have no chance of defending themselves without American help.
We may find Mr Trump aesthetically and morally reprehensible. But in many respects that directly concern us and our allies, his administration is still markedly better than its predecessor.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/t...bama-bcr82cr8p
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