Submission Statement: “Europe is under attack and has no serious response.” Edward Lucas explains how Western countries have been ineffective at deterring hybrid threats from Russia, as attacks continue with few consequences. Moving beyond condemnations and implementing proportional consequences would meaningfully impact decision-makers in Moscow, such as enabling Ukrainian retaliation, coordinating with allies on sanctions, and cracking down on Western enablers of Russian sanctions-busting. The goal should be to establish “deterrence by punishment” and make adversaries feel they have seriously miscalculated through painful responses (“ouch!” diplomacy).
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Submission Statement: “Europe is under attack and has no serious response.” Edward Lucas explains how Western countries have been ineffective at deterring hybrid threats from Russia, as attacks continue with few consequences. Moving beyond condemnations and implementing proportional consequences would meaningfully impact decision-makers in Moscow, such as enabling Ukrainian retaliation, coordinating with allies on sanctions, and cracking down on Western enablers of Russian sanctions-busting. The goal should be to establish “deterrence by punishment” and make adversaries feel they have seriously miscalculated through painful responses (“ouch!” diplomacy).