As escalation ratchets higher between Russia and the west over Ukraine, Intelligence Squared U.S. examines a core question: Is a confrontation with Russia worth it? And what effects have sanctions really wrought? Kurt Volker, a former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and former Special Representative for Ukraine, argues that defending Ukraine is very much in the west’s security interest. Emma Ashford of the Atlantic Council argues that it is not. And yet both acknowledge that for Russia, the stakes may be considerably higher.
Join host John Donvan and the debaters:
Kurt Douglas Volker is a former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine. He also served as executive director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership. He is considered a leading expert in U.S. foreign and national security policy with some 30 years of experience in a variety of government, academic, and private sector capacities. He has taught Transatlantic Relations at The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs.
Emma Ashford is a resident senior fellow with the New American Engagement Initiative in the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, which focuses on challenging the prevailing assumptions governing US foreign policy. She writes a bi-weekly column, “It’s Debatable,” for Foreign Policy. She is also a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and holds a PhD in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.
