Return to Winter: Russia, China, and the New Cold War Against America by Douglas E. Schoen, Melik Kaylan Read Free Book Online Page B

security of the world.

 
    ----
    WHAT TO DO
    THE NEW AXIS
            •      The New Axis is emboldened by declining American military might. Rebuilding our armed forces sends a strong message that, whether in Eastern Europe or the East China Sea, America’s military capabilities remain unequalled in the world.
            •      International election monitors from organizations such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) should receive increased funding and support—OSCE by its member states, NED by USAID. Their services should be made readily available to Ukraine and other fledgling democracies. In addition, America should push the United Nations to develop a new standard for monitoring and certifying elections, so that autocrats like Putin can no longer falsely claim democratic legitimacy.
            •      The West should redouble its efforts to support embattled journalists in China, Russia, Iran, and elsewhere. Just as the Magnitsky Act punishes Russian officials who engage in corrupt and criminal activity, politicians who are complicit in the persecution or silencing of journalists should be barred from traveling to the West, and their access to Western financial, cultural, and political institutions severely limited. China and Russia have signed a historic $400 billion dollar gas deal that will deepen their economic partnership; but for now, China does far more business with the West than with Russia. Wemust make clear that if China continues to make deals with Putin while he threatens his neighbors, Western governments will discourage investment in and trade with China’s increasingly rickety economy—while promoting other investment destinations such as the Philippines, Malaysia, and India.
            •      Russia continues to provide diplomatic cover for Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria. As the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, the United States must consider hard-power options to prevent further chemical attacks.
            •      Buying Iranian oil directly or in bartered swaps, Russia and China supply Tehran with critical equipment and goods, and they thus help Iran circumvent UN sanctions. 1 Wherever possible, illegal Russian and Chinese deals with Iran should be met with offsetting sanctions and penalties against companies linked to the regimes of these countries.
            •      In light of recent IAEA revelations involving Iran’s potential violations of the nuclear deal it struck with the U.S. in 2013, the United States should postpone any further compliance with the terms and conditions of the deal until a comprehensive investigation can determine whether Iran is following the agreement. 2
            •      Since 2008, the United States has made unilateral moves to shrink our nuclear arsenal and weaken the nuclear triad of bombers, submarines, and land-based missiles that protected us during the Cold War. Meanwhile Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran are rapidly expanding their nuclear capabilities. There is no strategic logic to current American nuclear policy, and we must return to a level of readiness commensurate with the dangerous nuclear landscape we face.
    ----