Much of the world’s attention has, quite rightly, been focused on the defeat of Isil in Iraq and Syria. After the recent terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, most people are taking a close interest in the demise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Mosul, and how its fanatical jihadist supporters might react to the loss of their self-proclaimed caliphate.
As such, it would be easy to miss that measures are quietly being put in place to tackle an even greater potential threat to our security: Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
Concerns about the potential risk Moscow poses to Western securityhave been deflected by the soap opera in Washington over allegations the Trump clan may, or may not, have had illegal contact with the Russian government in the run-up to last year’s presidential election.
It is a diversion that plays perfectly into Mr Putin’s hands as it leaves Moscow free to sow...
It is a diversion that plays perfectly into Mr Putin’s hands as it leaves Moscow free to sow the seeds of political instability throughout Europe. The Baltics, Ukraine, the Balkans: all have recently been the victims of direct and indirect Russian acts of aggression. And, following Ukraine’s decision earlier this month to press ahead with Nato membership, there is now a growing expectation among military planners that Moscow will intensify its efforts to undermine Western democracies. The Ukraine move is unlikely to go down well at the Kremlin, which remains bitterly opposed to further Nato encroachment into regions it regards as within its traditional sphere of influence. The invasion and illegal annexation of Crimea, together with the military occupation of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine from 2014 onwards, have all been undertaken to discourage the Ukrainian government from developing closer ties with the rest of Europe. It has been a similar picture in the Balkans, where, for example, attempts by Montenegro to join Nato prompted Moscow to back an assassination attempt against the country’s prime minister.
