The Baltic countries are in a precarious position. They lie under rapacious glare from Moscow (to borrow a phrase from Churchill). For decades, they were ruled by the Kremlin, and brutally. Now they are members of NATO.
And they have every right to be nervous. Senior Republicans — including the presidential nominee — have cast doubt on whether the United States would come to the aid of the Baltic countries, as NATO requires.
Just the man to discuss this is our own Andrew Stuttaford — who is my guest on a new Q&A.
Among the questions I take up with Andrew is, “Are we doing others a favor by belonging to NATO? Is the NATO alliance in the American interest? Or are we simply playing Big Daddy to itty-bitty countries far away?”
That is a fundamental question.
Also, “Is it Putin’s goal to reestablish the Soviet Union, the loss of which he regards as tragic?”
Also, “Trump has suggested that we will bless Putin’s annexation of Crimea. Does this make sense, morally, geopolitically, or what have you?”
Again, this Q&A podcast is here.
Newt said that Estonia is basically a suburb of St. Petersburg. If I were Estonia, I’d think, “Am I to be Czechoslovakia, then?”