The United States Needs a Black Sea Strategy
By Seth Cropsey
June 07, 2023
As the Ukraine War runs on into another summer, the United States should face facts: it needs a strategy for the Black Sea to adapt to a long-range period of geopolitical strife. A public articulation of a U.S. Black Sea strategy, along with the tangible kinetic steps to implement it, would greatly improve America’s ability to shore up NATO’s southeastern flank as it comes under sustained Russian pressure, whatever the outcome of the war. This strategy should include U.S. political leadership that enables the Black Sea states, along with their Eastern European partners, to defend themselves and secure shared interests with America.
The Biden administration’s understanding of the Ukraine War has persistently lagged behind battlefield reality. This is not a phenomenon restricted to the current war. During the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, perceptions in Washington poke along well behind those in CENTCOM’s Tampa headquarters, let alone in Baghdad itself. Distance from a conflict creates an informational gap between those who fight it and those who command.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/06/07/the_united_states_needs_a_black_sea_strategy_904008.html
