Why Soviet-Style Containment Can't Work Against Modern Russia
Why Soviet-Style Containment Can't Work Against Modern Russia Friday October 16 th , 2015 at 4:08 PM The Atlantic 1 Share The signs of the times are everywhere. Estonia is erecting a 2.5-meter-high metal mesh fence reinforced with barbed wire along much of its border with Russia —and backing it up with high-tech drones, sensors, radars, and cameras. Neighboring Latvia has announced plans to build fences along its eastern frontier. Poland plans to build new state-of-the art watchtowers on its border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. And, of course, Ukraine has floated plans to build a wall along its Russian frontier. A new era of containment, it appears, has begun. Russia’s neighbors, wary of polite little green men appearing to stir up new non-declared hybrid wars, are building walls and becoming vigilant. Rethinking Putin’s Russia And some leading Western commentators are calling for a revival of the spirit of George Kennan’s Lon