The United States has never been directly involved in the war in Ukraine. U.S. troops weren’t sent there to fight for Ukraine against the Russian invaders, and both sides of our political spectrum seemed intent on keeping it that way. Russia remained in American foreign policy a challenge to be managed and a competitor, even an adversary.
Through its words and its deeds, the Russian state has become an enemy of the United States, and we have no sound reason to believe that this has changed and that Putin will not revert to hostility if the U.S. challenges his ambitions. We should be clear-eyed in what that means for our security and our foreign policy.
Collaboration to opposition
This — the movement from adversary to enemy — is an unfortunate turn of events, all the more frustrating given the efforts made by Republicans and Democrats over the last 35 years to foster cooperative, even collaborative relations with Moscow.
The difference between an adversary and an enemy is slight but important. The former is an opponent, a country with which the United States has a keen rivalry.
In official pronouncements both the first Trump administration in its 2018 defense strategy and the Biden administration in its 2022 version of the same document characterized Russia (as well as China) as an “adversary.” Given the state of relations up to 2022, it made sense to label Russia this way.