Dennis Ross, a former special assistant to President Barack Obama, is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute.
Anna Borshchevskaya is the Harold Grinspoon Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on Russia's policy toward the Middle East.
Articles & Testimony
If Washington wants Putin to act differently, it must demonstrate less risk aversion, whether in Ukraine or in Middle East conflict zones like Syria and Iraq.
President Joe Biden’s recent marathon press conference demonstrated once again that he and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin speak two different languages: Biden speaks of conflict avoidance, and Putin of coercion. While Biden said that a limited Russian incursion into Ukraine would essentially produce a debate among NATO members over how to respond, Putin has defined the agenda by moving large forces and military equipment from as far away as the Russian border with North Korea to confront Ukraine. Even as the United States is hoping to deter, now with threats of sanctions and potential deployments to Europe, Putin acts to compel a response to his objectives. He was not always so keen to confront openly. So how did we get here?...