Publication

Henrik Larsen argues that when it comes to Russia, the West should draw inspiration from the intellectual origins of containment, which prescribed a readiness to contain the “expansive tendencies” of the Soviet Union. This includes containment’s core insight, that Russia essentially represents a political-psychological threat. For Larsen, neo-containment should target Moscow’s capacity to undermine public confidence and limit its space for political influence, which constitute bigger threats to Western cohesion than during the Cold War. NATO and the EU’s public diplomacy and counter-subversion initiatives should play a key role in this respect.