FP This Week: Former NATO chief says we “overestimated” Russia

Plus, what the West (still) gets wrong about Russian President Vladimir Putin. [Foreign Policy This Week]( June 06, 2022 | [View in browser]( To access all the benefits of an FP subscription, [sign in]( or [subscribe](. Thanks for reading. Earlier today, I conducted a surprising interview with former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. It was surprising because Rasmussen is a career politician known for his diplomatic finesse—but in our conversation, watched by a global huddle of FP subscribers, he chose to be quite blunt. The former Danish prime minister dismissed concerns that Turkey would [get in the way]( of Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO. All Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants, he said, “is some concessions from the U.S. when it comes to the F-16 and F-35 deals.” And when I asked him whether NATO had incorrectly assessed the strength of Russia’s military in the ongoing war in Ukraine, he was pointed in his response: “We have too long overestimated the strength of the Russian military. But the other miscalculation is we have underestimated the brutality and the ambitions of [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin.” Rasmussen agreed that NATO erred in not outlining a clear path for Georgia and Ukraine to join the military alliance back in 2008—and erred again in only mildly sanctioning Russia after it annexed Crimea in 2014. “We have made many mistakes,” he conceded. “We have been too naive for too long.” The question is: What can be done now? What other steps can Europe and the United States take against Russia, and how can it do so in a way that doesn’t lead to an escalatory spiral? For Rasmussen’s thoughts on that and much more, including a debate on the [merits]( of aligning democracies against autocracies, you can read a transcript of our discussion [here]( or watch the full FP Live interview [here]( Plus, don’t forget to read Tatiana Stanovaya’s argument on “[What the West (Still) Gets Wrong About Putin]( in which the Moscow-based political analyst debunks the theory that Putin is losing the war in Ukraine. She says he isn’t—and it’s important to understand why. —Ravi Agrawal, FP editor in chief P.S. With Father’s Day around the corner, consider a gift they’ll enjoy every day: [six months or one year of FP access](. Today only, you can save 50 percent on gift subscriptions with promo code FPSUMMER22. --------------------------------------------------------------- New and Noteworthy - The last days of the Afghan Embassy: FP’s Robbie Gramer looks at why the United States was the first Western country to force a closure of its Afghan Embassy, even as thousands of refugees needed help after the U.S. withdrawal and fall of Kabul. “I had hoped that the U.S. would have been the last country to close the embassy, not the first,” one former diplomat told Gramer. [Read the full story](. - In remembrance: On Saturday, Hong Kong commemorated the 33rd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square killings and protests. Read an [expert’s point of view]( on how Westerners learned the wrong lessons from the massacre, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s [Tiananmen family lessons]( and [more]( - From our friends at Slate: Don’t miss Slow Burn: Roe v. Wade—Slate’s blockbuster podcast is back for a new season. In the early 1970s, the future of abortion rights was hanging in the balance. On this season of Slow Burn, host Susan Matthews tells the forgotten story of those early battles and how they changed the United States. [New episodes out now](. --------------------------------------------------------------- In Conversation FP is hosting its first-ever [Twitter Spaces]( this Wednesday in commemoration of World Oceans Day and the launch of our newest podcast, [The]( this Wednesday at 1 p.m. EDT. Each episode offers a behind-the-scenes look at the current state of global fishing by tracking squid—from the waters off the coast of Peru to processing plants, all the way to restaurants and finally your plate. Join us as we learn what squid tells us about the state of our oceans. Follow and listen to The Catch wherever you get your podcasts. [Set a reminder](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Trending Articles - [Modi’s Multipolar Moment Has Arrived]( By Derek Grossman - [Russia’s War Is the End of Climate Policy as We Know It]( By Ted Nordhaus - [What The West (Still) Gets Wrong About Putin]( By Tatiana Stanovaya - [Why China Threads the Needle on Ukraine]( By Andrew J. Nathan - [Iran’s Leaders Are Scared of the Internet]( By Kourosh Ziabari ---------------------------------------------------------------  From Around FP - FP Virtual Dialogue: Uniting Political Parties to Defend Democracy. The invasion of Ukraine has rallied leaders from around the globe and across party lines in support of democracy and against aggression. How can governments carry on bipartisan momentum and apply these lessons for future democratic crises? Join FP, in partnership with the National Democratic Institute, for a conversation with officials and institutional experts to explore cooperative efforts to ensure safety, provide aid, and protect democracy. [View event details and registration](. - Fuel Your Workday: View upcoming events and catch up on recordings from past discussions [here](. Are you interested in learning more about FP Analytics’ cutting-edge research services, hosting an FP Virtual Dialogue event, or building a podcast with FP Studios? [Explore partnership opportunities]( --------------------------------------------------------------- FINAL DAY: Save 50 percent on FP, including [unlimited access]( to today's sharpest thinkers. To claim this offer, use promo code [FPSUMMER22](. Cancel anytime. FOLLOW FP ON This email was sent to {EMAIL} because you are subscribed to the FP This Week newsletter. Want a friend to receive this newsletter? [Forward it]( now. Want to receive other FP newsletters? [Manage]( your FP newsletter preferences. [unsubscribe]( | [privacy policy]( | [contact us]( | [partner with FP]( Foreign Policy magazine is a division of Graham Holdings Company. All contents © 2022 The Slate Group, LLC. All rights reserved. Foreign Policy, 1750 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20006. [Link](