Can Efforts to Protect American Democracy End up Threatening It?

Can Efforts to Protect American Democracy End up Threatening It?

The investigations may actually help Russian president Vladimir Putin to expand his influence and reach, even as they deny the United States the ability to pursue vital national security interests.

Yet when President Donald Trump meets Putin later this week in Vietnam, he will have little or nothing to offer his Russian counterpart to encourage the Kremlin to cooperate in pressing North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to contain his nuclear ambitions. If a frustrated Trump later decides that war with Kim is his only option, our inability to engage the Kremlin could become quite costly indeed.

Paul J. Saunders, associate publisher of the National Interest, is executive director of the Center for the National Interest.

Image: A jogger runs past The U.S. Capitol Building at sunset in Washington, U.S. May 17, 2017. REUTERS/Zach Gibson

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