The U.S. and Eastern Europe: Pondering a Withdrawal?

There cannot be much doubt that the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Kabul sent out a dangerous signal of weakness, something that no great power can afford to do, especially at a time when the world has been looking more dangerous since the Cold War. And while the shambles in Kabul would not by itself have triggered Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine (for example, Vladimir Putin’s notorious pseudo-history of Russo-Ukrainian relations was published in July 2021, some weeks before the fall of Kabul), it could only have reinforced the Kremlin’s conviction that it could get away with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Reuters (August 19, 2021):

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Andrew Stuttaford

Andrew Stuttaford is the editor of National Review's Capital Matters.

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There cannot be much doubt that the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Kabul sent out a dangerous signal of weakness, something that no great power can afford to do, especially at a time when the world has been looking more dangerous since the Cold War. And while the shambles in Kabul would not by itself have triggered Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine (for example, Vladimir Putin’s notorious pseudo-history of Russo-Ukrainian relations was published in July 2021, some weeks before the fall of Kabul), it could only have reinforced the Kremlin’s conviction that it could get away with a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Reuters (August 19, 2021):