Ukraine Dilemma: U.S. Can’t Prevent Russian Expansion Without Better Missile Defenses (From Forbes)

Vladimir Putin has called Washington’s bluff, and as a result the U.S. is headed for a major loss of influence in Europe.  Putin has correctly concluded that the Obama Administration will not act decisively to halt Russian pressure on former Soviet republics because of the danger any such move could escalate to a nuclear confrontation.  The only way out of this dilemma — if there is a way out — is for Washington to start taking missile defense a lot more seriously.  If the Pentagon were spending more than 1% of its annual funding on missile defense, it might have begun to find a solution to the existential threat posed by Russian nuclear forces.  Well, better late than never — deterrence wasn’t going to last forever anyway.  Now Washington realizes that the status quo in Europe won’t either, unless it finds some way of effectively countering Moscow’s strategic arsenal.  I have written a commentary for Forbes here.