The inestimable importance of strategic depth

http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2016/03/04/the-inestimable-importance-strategic-depth/FCqTtIF5eyDlOtkFUd5K3N/story.html

The inestimable importance of strategic depth

By Stephen Kinzer   BOSTON GLOBE - MARCH 05, 2016

NO COUNTRY LIKES having enemies on its borders. Big powers seek to dominate their neighborhoods. Recognizing this drive is essential to understanding the world.

The United States assured its security in North America long ago. Native Americans were suppressed and big-power rivals faded. Vast oceans protect us from most adversaries. We are blessed with what geo-politicians call strategic depth.

Few countries appreciate the value of strategic depth — and the cost of its absence — better than Russia. It has long experience with European invaders, from Napoleon to Hitler. The desire to prevent further invasions led the Soviet Union to subjugate countries in Eastern Europe after World War II. Americans interpreted these moves as the beginning of a Soviet drive for global power. Above all, they were aimed at establishing a band of subservient buffer states to protect the Soviet Union from attack.

Russia still views the world through this lens. It saw NATO’s decision to position military forces along its borders in the 1990s as highly threatening. Today, more able to resist, Russia insists on preventing American troops and nuclear weapons from being deployed in other neighboring states. That is why it is ready to use all means necessary to prevent Ukraine and Georgia from joining NATO. Any Russian leader who did otherwise would be reviled for undermining national security and exposing his country to danger. http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2016/03/04/the-inestimable-importance-strategic-depth/FCqTtIF5eyDlOtkFUd5K3N/story.html