Garčević Discusses Russian Global Influence at West Point Security Seminar
From February 9-10, 2023, Ambassador Vesko Garčević, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, participated in a security seminar – “Order, Counter-Order, Disorder? Regional and Global Security Orders in the Shadow of Sino-American Competition” – hosted by the United States Military Academy West Point.
Garčević was part of the seminar’s Russia and International Order working group, which hosted two-panel discussions; he was a panelist on the “Russian Asymmetric Strategies of Dis-ordering” panel along with scholars and practitioners from Europe and the United States, including Professor Larry Goodson and Dr. Marzena Zakowska from the U.S. Army War College as well as Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan, Head of Research for the Royal Australian Navy. Panelists discussed how Russia is transforming its soft power into “sharp power,” examining the role of local political players, including the Orthodox Church, Russian or pro-Russian media outlets, economic footprint (energy projects), and defense cooperation with Serbia.
In discussing the Balkans and Russia’s influence there, Garčević said the region’s susceptibility to Russian influence allows the Kremlin to easily stage cost-effective influence operations that can make a broad impact on European security. He also outlined the Kremlin’s strategic objectives, which are to drag its rivals’ involvement down to a level that would make countries of the region subject to Moscow’s interference; make the European Union (EU)/North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) appear vulnerable and incompetent; prevent further NATO expansion and delay or halt EU integration; and present itself as an alternative model politically, culturally, religiously closer to the Orthodox population in the region.
During his diplomatic career, Ambassador Vesko Garčević dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School. Learn more about Ambassador Garčević on his faculty profile.