Keir Giles, a senior fellow at Chatham House and expert on Russian threats, discusses Europe's pressing defense challenges in the wake of an aggressive Russia. He critiques Europe’s historical reliance on the U.S. for protection and underscores the urgent need for the continent to bolster its own military capabilities. Giles analyzes NATO's effectiveness and explores how European nations must reassess their defense strategies to tackle the evolution of threats. He also highlights the critical interplay between defense spending and societal resilience, advocating for a balanced approach.
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insights INSIGHT
Russia's Expanding Threat to Europe
Russia's threat to Europe is persistent and not limited to Ukraine alone.
Putin aims to restore historic Russian imperial borders, threatening multiple neighbors and NATO states.
insights INSIGHT
Russia's Military Resilience and Capabilities
Russia has rebuilt its military to be 15% larger than its original Ukraine invasion force.
Future Russian conflicts could leverage long-range missiles and nuclear forces, not just conventional troops.
insights INSIGHT
External Support Fuels Russia's War
China's, North Korea's, and paradoxically US policies have prolonged the Ukraine war.
Russia can freeze the conflict to rebuild forces, posing ongoing threats to Europe.
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Russia's War on Everybody and What It Means for You
Russia's War on Everybody and What It Means for You
What It Means for You
Keir Giles
This book looks at the security threats that Russia poses to the rest of the world. It covers the full spectrum of threats, from military aggression and hybrid warfare to economic coercion and cyberattacks. The book assesses how these threats affect different countries and regions, and offers recommendations for how to respond to them. It's essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the challenges posed by Russia's increasingly assertive foreign policy.
Who Will Defend Europe
Who Will Defend Europe
Keir Giles
The Moscow Rules
Jonna Mendez
Antonio J. Mendez
The Moscow Rules recounts the story of how CIA officers, led by Antonio and Jonna Mendez, developed groundbreaking espionage techniques to counter the KGB in Moscow. These tactics included Hollywood-inspired disguises, evasion methods, and advanced gadgets, which significantly enhanced the CIA's ability to conduct clandestine operations in one of the most challenging environments of the Cold War.
Who will defend Europe? The answer should be obvious: Europe should be able to defend itself. Yet, for decades, most of the continent enjoyed a defence holiday, outsourcing protection to the United States while banking an increasingly illusory ‘peace dividend’. Now, after three decades of reducing armed forces and drawing down defence industries, Europe finds itself close to unprotected—while Russia is intent on continuing its war of expansion, and the US is distracted and divided. In Who Will Defend Europe?: An Awakened Russia and a Sleeping Continent (Hurst & Co., 2024), Keir Giles lays out the stark choices facing leaders and societies as they confront the return of war in Europe. He explains how the West’s unwillingness to confront Russia has nurtured the threat, and that Putin’s ambition puts the whole continent at risk. He assesses the role and deficiencies of NATO as a guarantor of hard security, and whether the EU or coalitions of the willing can fill the gap. Above all, Giles emphasises the need for new leadership in defence of the free world after the US has stepped aside— and warns that the UK’s brief moment of setting the pace for Europe has already been squandered.
Keir Giles has advised governments worldwide on the Russian threat. A senior fellow with Chatham House's Russia and Eurasia Programme, and Director of the Conflict Studies Research Centre, he is a regular commentator for the BBC and international media. His prescient books include What Deters Russia and Moscow Rules.
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