Shifrinson Comments on NATO Enlargement and Ukraine Crisis
Joshua Shifrinson, Associate Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was quoted in a Vox article on the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and how that plays into Russia’s encroachment on Ukraine.
The article, titled “How America’s NATO expansion obsession plays into the Ukraine crisis,” explores NATO’s history, its role as a security deterrence to Russia, as well as talks of expanding membership East to former Soviet countries. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Shifrinson argues that “enlarging NATO becomes the gift that keeps on giving” as it gave the United States a continued foothold in Europe and served as an avenue to “incentiviz[ed] liberalization in countries that had been in the Communist bloc.” NATO’s existence and expansion have been a major aspect of U.S. foreign policy for years; however, in the face of Russian demands and opposition towards Eastern expansion, the U.S. and other member countries need to think critically about its expansion strategy.
The full article can be read on Vox‘s website.
Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson is an Associate 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.