What's At Stake in Ukraine? European Security In a Broader Context

By Stephen Blank

Virtually all of the commentary on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has focused on those two states to the exclusion of the vital importance of this war for the neighboring regions of Belarus and the Balkans. This report addresses the significance of the war for these areas and emphasizes that this war has great significance for Europe as a whole, not just Ukraine. It does so in the context of criticizing the Biden Administration for not providing sufficient and timely support for Ukraine because that failure negatively impacts prospects for security in the Balkans or undermines Lukashenko’s authoritarianism in Belarus.

Thus, the report argues that the crisis in Ukraine actually provided and still provides Washington with the greatest opportunity in a generation to advance US and European interests by defeating Russia and improving prospects for security and democracy in areas like Belarus and the Balkans. In that spirit, the article outlines a multi-dimensional strategy for the US and its allies, encompassing the Balkans, Belarus, and Ukraine, to win the war and lay the foundation for a stable and secure peace afterward. Continue reading on fpri.org.

Stephen J. Blank is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Eurasia Program.