Foreign Policy Research Institute A Nation Must Think Before it Acts The United States, Russia and the ‘No Cost’ Paradigm

The United States, Russia and the ‘No Cost’ Paradigm

The National Interest

Dan Drezner, who has a blog at the Washington Post, is correct to caution the foreign policy commentariat from not overblowing comparisons between the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and current Russian-American tensions over Syria today, noting that the “conflict in Syria lacks the tight coupling between initial clash and escalation to full-blown nuclear war that the Cuban missile crisis did.” Nevertheless, like former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul or former head of MI6 John Sawers, I agree that we are facing a realistic prospect for a clash between Moscow and Washington.

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