Sodhi 1

Armaan Sodhi
Mr. Davis
Government 4
17 October 2016
Russian Aggression
Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation has been trying to reclaim
and rebuild itself to its former glory of being a global superpower. To achieve this goal, the
Russian Federation has attempted to establish various satellite states by interfering in other
countries politics, such as in Georgia and the Ukraine. As Russia continues to encroach on the
United States allies in Europe, America must act swiftly to counteract Russian aggression. The
Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly made statements that he would like to see
Russia return to its former Soviet Union dominance. As such, it would be in the United States
best interest to contain any potential Russian expansion into Europe or Asia as that would pose a
direct threat to U.S. national security and economic interests. In particular, any Russian military
expansion into occupied countries could include an added nuclear arsenal, which would threaten
surrounding regions.
Due to the desire of Russia to increase its land holding and influence, the country has
manipulated its neighboring countries. The Russian Federation (RF) is fearful of retaliation by
western countries, thus it seeks to create buffer zones to protect it. This has already been
expressed by Vladimir Putin, who once stated in a 2005 speech that, Above all, we should
acknowledge that the collapse of the Soviet Union was a major geopolitical disaster of the
century. As for the Russian nation, it became a genuine drama. Tens of millions of our co-citizens
and compatriots found themselves outside Russian territory. Moreover, the epidemic of

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disintegration infected Russia itself (N. Iancu, A. Fortuna, C. Barna 98). Putin, whom was a
KGB agent, is massively in favor of a renewed Soviet Union, and shows that he considered the
countries that were previously under the Soviet Union control to once again are the property of
Russia since 1999; the RFs foreign policy has been greatly influenced by Putin. This has lead
Russia to invade Georgia in 2008 and the Ukraine in 2014, in which Russia sought to keep in
control a pro-Kremlin President. Russia is able to control its neighbors with ease due to having a
larger military than most countries in their region. As such, Russia has been attempting to show
its strength to its neighbors, There has also been an uptick in long-range bomber activity from
the Russians in Eastern Europe and extending to flights off the U.S. West Coast, Carlisle said
(Tom and Brooke). This is a blatant show of force to not only its neighbors but to its opposition
itself, with the intent to threaten these countries into not interfering with Russia's business.
Russia has also used threats of violence for its own gain against its smaller neighbors. For
example, when Sweden expressed interest in joining NATO the Russian Ambassador, Victor
Tatarintsev, stated: I don't think it will become relevant in the near future, even though there has
been a certain swing in public opinion. But if it happens there will be
countermeasures"(Williams). Since Sweden is geographically very distant from Russia, their
influence would not be damaging. Russia insisted however that there would be retaliation. Not
only does Russia damage their neighbors, they also damage U.S interests in the region as well.
The United States and Russia have not had an easy relationship in the last century, as the
two have often competed against each other for global power. However the RF has begun to
interfere with the United States national security interests directly by attempting to influence the
U.S. Presidential election through the use of state sponsored computer hackers. Recently the
Department of Homeland Security has stated that: The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is

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confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US
persons and institutions, including from US political organizations(Joint Statement from the
Department Of Homeland Security and Office of the Director of National Intelligence on
Election Security). The fact that Russia purposefully hacked and attempted to influence the U.S.
election to have their candidate of choice win is a breach in U.S national security and shows
Russia determination to weaken the United States. Alongside of this, Russia has interfered with
the United States justice system, such as when it allowed fugitive Edward Snowden to seek
asylum. When Putin was asked as to why he allowed this, Putin stated: Russia doesn't carry out
mass surveillance (Gentleman and Hopkins). Seemingly the main reason as to why Putin
allowed Snowden into Russia was to spite the United States, despite the fact that Russia itself is
known for its surveillance of people. Along with interfering with U.S security, Russia has also
been responsible for attempting to interfere with western economies. For instance, Russia had
placed embargoes on the European Union for agricultural produce in retaliation for the embargos
placed upon them during the Ukraine Crisis. This has had negative direct effects on U.S allies in
Europe and indirectly with European trading partners, due to the fact that: Across the EU as a
whole, exports on average, depending on the year, represent 11-13 billion dollars (8 to 10 billion
euros), thats 9% of total EU trade flows. Another precision, concerning European processing
industries, Russia is its second biggest export market, behind the United States (Pouch). Due to
the fact that the exports represent such a large amount of Europe's economic infrastructure an
embargo of this size threatens to damage the worldwide market as the agricultural produce would
become a surplus and the price of food would become lower.
The question arises of why can't Russia's neighbors contain Russia, why must that
responsibility fall upon the United States? The answer is partly due to the fact that Russia is a

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very real danger to its surrounding neighbors due to its superior military and nuclear arsenal.
Russia currently has one of the largest militaries in the world, with five percent of its GDP
dedicated to its military in 2015, compared to United States, which spends 3.3 percent of its GDP
(Military Expenditure (% of GDP). The amount of money spent on the Russian military is much
more than any of the other countries in their area of influence. This disparity, allows Russia to
invade and harm any other surrounding country. Compared to many of the countries in the world,
the Russian military is even more efficient than the United States, for example in Syria Russian
Air Forces have been conducting nearly as many strikes in a typical day against rebel troops
opposing the government of President Bashar al-Assad as the American-led coalition targeting
the Islamic State has been carrying out each month this year (Schmitt and Myers). The Russian
military is not just able to compete with but is even able to outdo the American military. Not only
does Russia have an efficient military, it also has a large nuclear arsenal. The United States and
Russia both contain the largest amounts of nuclear weapons and material in the world, however
in the past both countries had taken initiatives to disarm themselves. Recently Russia has begun
to enlarge its nuclear arsenal, for example, In the early 1990s, the United States and Russia
partnered through the Cooperative Threat Reduction (Nunn-Lugar) Program to secure Russian
stockpiles of HEU and plutonium as well as to dismantle Soviet-era delivery systems and
chemical weapons. In June 2013, Moscow allowed the agreement covering these activities to
expire (Russia). Russias blatant disregard for dismantlement of its nuclear weapons is
alarming, showing that Russia is in favor of rebuilding its nuclear stockpile. Not only is Russia in
favor of halting disarmament but it is also in favor of enlarging its nuclear weapons for its use as
a defense against other nations. The use of nuclear weapons as a deterrent has been expressed by
Vladimir Putin, who during a defense meeting stated, We have repeatedly said that Russia will

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take the necessary measures to strengthen the response capacity of the strategic nuclear forces.
We will work on missile defense systems, but at the first stage, as we have, I repeat, they said,
we will work over the shock and systems that are able to overcome any missile defense system
(Development of the Armed Forces of the meeting). The encouragement by the Russian
government to produce more efficient nuclear weapons is dangerous as it promotes the escalation
of nuclear arms. Russia is a very dangerous entity due to its nuclear armament and could very
well easily launch a nuclear strike.
Although Russian aggression is a major problem in the east, containment is not the most
effective way to reduce aggression. In fact it may instead worsen aggression as Russia will
retaliate against U.S interference such as in Ukraine. If the United States continues containment
it could possibly lead to war between the United States and Russia, which would be catastrophic
considering the weapons at the disposal of the two powers. Both countries have access to a vast
array of weapons including nuclear weapons, which Russia owns approximate 1,643 nuclear
weapons (Rice University). The outbreak of nuclear war would be catastrophic to not just the
U.S but the entire world. The containment plan could also potentially cause an arms race
between the United States and Russia. Containment relies on having a superior military to your
opponent, Without superior military power, it was no more than a policy of bluff
(Containment). Containment forced the two states into an arms race, which often included
nuclear weapons, resulting in increased tensions between the two states. If the United States were
to commit to the policy of containment, the effects it would have on U.S-Russian relations would
be irrevocable. The policy of containment would make it so that the only solution would be for
either one of the two countries to submit or for all-out war, as was the case during the Cold War,
containment came, ...crowd out other long-established ideas, becoming at times a virtual

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substitute for both foreign and defense policy(MccGwire 55). The United States and the Soviet
Union never made peace due to the effects of containment, only after the Soviet Union fell and a
new government was put into effect. The policy of containment was ultimately detrimental to the
United States during the Cold War due to it bringing multiple wars that were fought by proxy
such as the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War. This policy would again bring destruction to
the world if implemented.
Ultimately the Russian Federation is a dangerous force in the east that must be contained.
If not, then the risk of Russian domination is a very real consequence. Russia must be contained
to prevent further invasion into its neighbors, interference in the United States economy and
national security, and further build of their military and nuclear stockpile. The United States must
contain the Russian Federation.

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Work cited
Print
MccGwire, Michael. Deterrence: The Problem-Not the Solution. International Affairs (Royal
Institute of International Affairs 1944-), vol. 62, no. 1, 1985, pp. 5570.
N. Iancu, A. Fortuna, C. Barna. Countering Hybrid Threats Lessons Learned from Ukraine. Pp.
98.: Ios Pr, 2016. Print.
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Estimated Strategic Nuclear Weapons Inventories (September 2004)." Rice University Projects.
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Gentleman, Amelia, and Nick Hopkins. "Putin Tells Edward Snowden: Russia Doesn't Carry out
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"Military Expenditure (% of GDP)." Data. The World Bank, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

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<http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS>.
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