Shifrinson Publishes Op-Ed on the Threat of Russia
Joshua Shifrinson, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a Newsweek op-ed on the global threat of Russia and the fact that it’s treatment as a threat to core American interests is wrong.
In the article, titled “Russia: A Problem, Not a Threat,” Shifrinson argues that while Russian actions have led to death and chaos, they are not deliberate attempts to disrupt the liberal international order. Rather, “Moscow’s actions are not the cause of liberalism’s dilemmas so much as they exploit existing domestic problems in the U.S. and elsewhere.”
However, Shifrinson clearly states that this does not mean that Russia should not be completely discounted as a threat. Rather than hyping Russia as an ultimate threat to liberal democracy, he argues that the United States should treat its adversary “as a problem to be managed pragmatically and with coolheaded realism…Prudence and moderation, not hyperbole, will yield tangible results.”
The full op-ed can be read on Newsweek‘s website.
Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson is an Assistant Professor at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, where his teaching and research interests focus on the intersection of international security and diplomatic history, particularly the rise and fall of great powers and the origins of grand strategy. His work has appeared with International Security, the Journal of Strategic Studies, Foreign Affairs, and other venues. Read more about Professor Shifrinson on his faculty profile.