Publisher's Synopsis
When Winston Churchill gave his famous Iron Curtain speech in Fulton, Missouri, among his insights was this, "I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines." He went on, "From what I have seen of our Russian friends and allies during the war I am convinced there is nothing they admire so much as strength and there is nothing for which they have less respect than weakness, especially military weakness." What was true then is true now and we are seeing it play out before our eyes. The famous reset by the Obama administration with regard to Russia has not gone so well. Russia has consolidated its gains in Ukraine, has intervened in Syria, establishing a stronghold in the Middle East for the first time since the 1970s, and has continued to take unprecedented, provocative actions against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ships and planes. Russia presents a full spectrum of threats, from a modern nuclear arsenal, which Putin has threatened to use against conventional forces, to hybrid tactics based on deception and confusion. Russia is not the only issue on the plate. The growing threat of terrorist attack from ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria] coming both from Syria, Iraq, and from Libya, as well as the migration of refugees more generally, are a significant issue for this theater.
