[HT: AU]. Here's the most relevant bit in my view, as it goes for the U.S. as well as EU and NATO [emphasis mine]:
No sensible person wants, in the face of the many other challenges, to be forced to find money for increased spending on arms. No one wants the economic consequences that extensive sanctions against Russia will have on our own economies, but Putin will not be deterred by resolutions passed at Nato or EU summits.So unless we want to gamble that this systematic aggression will fizzle out in the face of inactivity, and history tells us that doesn’t happen, we must find effective ways to deter him.Both Nato and the EU have made a start but the small and reluctant steps taken so far sadly are not likely to be nearly enough.All Nato countries should commit to reverse the recent decline in defence spending.At the European level there is an urgent need to develop a strategy to decrease our heavy dependence on Russian energy.
Finally, Europe is realizing that Russia is not a reliable partner, since there is no separation of business and politics in Russia -- where everything is political, and politics is subordinated to one man, Vladimir Putin. Europe cannot abide the whims of one man in the vain hope of ensuring its economic and military security.
By Paul Dale
September 15, 2014 | The Chamberlain Files
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