Scott interviews James Carden, Adviser to The American Committee for US-Russia Accord, about relations between Russia and the European Union. In recent years, Carden explains, some EU states have shown themselves unwilling to even sit down to cordial negotiations with Russia, who has been getting a reputation—largely thanks to Western media—for aggressive territorial expansion. This depiction could hardly be further from the truth. With the exception of Russia’s annexation of Crimea, which was mostly peaceful and explicitly called for by the residents of that region, Russia has shown no indications of hegemonic designs on Eastern Europe. If anything, it’s the United States and some of its European allies that have been trying to expand into Russian territory by bringing more and more Eastern nations into NATO. Since the Soviet Union collapsed, this project is utterly pointless—and it’s also extremely dangerous. America ought to be careful that it doesn’t cross any Russian red lines, the only resolution to which would be all-out war.

Discussed on the show:

• “Why Ostpolitik with Russia runs along East-West Euro Divide” (Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft)
• “Opinion | The Strange Death of Liberal Russophobia” (The New York Times)
• “Nyet Means Nyet” (WikiLeaks)

James Carden is the executive editor for the American Committee for East-West Accord and former adviser on Russia policy at the US State Department. He is a contributing writer at The Nation.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; Photo IQ; Green Mill Supercritical; Zippix Toothpicks; and Listen and Think Audio.

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