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The Crisis in Ukraine

Perspectives from Senior Fellow Alan W. Dowd

Senior Fellow Alan W. Dowd heads the Center for America’s Purpose (CAP) at Sagamore Institute. CAP was launched in 2014 to promote America’s leadership role in the world through published work and policy speeches. In addition, Dowd manages and authors Sagamore’s Project Fortress blog, which explores the intersection of faith, liberty and security, and he serves as curator of Sagamore’s Pathfinder project, which is a storehouse of the “essentials” for understanding the evolution of U.S. foreign and defense policy. Focusing on U.S. foreign policy, national defense and international security, Dowd’s award-winning writing appears in a number leading publications, including American Legion Magazine, Providence, Real Clear Defense, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Military Officer, and the Landing Zone. 

Learn more about Alan Dowd

Interested in learning more about the current crisis in Ukraine? Sagamore curated the following list of Dowd's relevant work related to the war in Ukraine. Click the boxes below to read more.

PROVIDENCE

WORDS OF WAR

July 20 2023

Historian John Keegan wrote in his History of Warfare that “All civilizations owe their origins to the warrior.” But more than that, all civilizations owe their survival to the warrior. 

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Providence

Ukraine's Blame Game

May 18 2023

Fifteen months into Putin’s second invasion of Ukraine—and just eight months away from what increasingly looks like a second Biden–Trump election showdown—partisans on both sides are trying fix the blame for the largest, bloodiest, costliest war to scar Europe since 1939. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but the central cause of this war is hiding in plain sight.

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Capstones

Preparing for a Post-Putin Whirlwind

May 12 2023

“Nations are not eternal,” French philosopher Ernest Renan observed in 1882. “They have a beginning and they will have an end.” That’s something to keep in mind as we assess the damage Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine is doing to Russia.

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Providence

A War of War Crimes

February 21 2023

As we approach the first anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, one of G.K. Chesterton’s most profound observations keeps coming to mind: “The true soldier,” Chesterton explained, “fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” Against all odds, a people’s army of students and soldiers, farmers and techies, shopkeepers and artists, young women and old men has beaten back, ground down, outwitted, outmaneuvered and outfought Putin’s invasion force—in large part because they love their families, their fellow Ukrainians, their freedom and their homeland.

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Providence

Israel and Turkey Must Step Up

November 14 2022

With a revisionist Russia on the march, Ukraine is fighting for its very existence—and begging for help. With Vladimir Putin’s war of war crimes on their doorstep, Sweden and Finland are seeking the shelter of NATO membership—and begging NATO’s 30 members to let them in. But Turkey and Israel are ignoring those cries for help—and their own history.

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Capstones

The New Nato's Old Mission

September 2022

NATO has unveiled a new Strategic Concept—a kind of mission statement for the 30-member alliance (soon to be 32-member alliance). The 2022 Strategic Concept is the first overhaul of NATO’s mission statement in a dozen years. Tellingly, the document has much more in common with NATO’s posture during its first four decades than that of the 1990s and early 2000s.

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American Security Council Foundation

NATO Fortifies Eastern Flank

June 03 2022

Because of Russia’s unconscionable invasion of Ukraine, the NATO alliance is more united than at any time since the fall of the World Trade Towers on 9/11—and more relevant and more important than at any time since the fall of the Berlin Wall on 11/9. From the Baltics to Bulgaria, NATO is rapidly strengthening its defenses and deterrent capabilities to confront the new/old threat along its eastern flank.

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Providence

Presidential Playbook for a Dangerous Phase of Putin’s War

May 11 2022

With Vladimir Putin’s planned two-day war to topple Ukraine’s democratically elected government now in its third month and Russian casualties piling into the tens of thousands, concerns abound that Putin might take increasingly drastic steps.

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American Legion

Looking Ahead to Fortress Ukraine

April 18 2022

With as many as 15,000 Russian troops dead, 30,000 Russian troops wounded or captured, 1,308 Russian tanks/armored vehicles destroyed, damaged or captured, and 79 Russian aircraft destroyed, Ukraine has won the Battle of Kiev and staggered Vladimir Putin’s vaunted military. Even so, Putin has the capacity and callousness to keep bludgeoning Ukraine’s cities – and Ukraine has the will and weaponry (thanks to NATO) to keep bleeding Russia’s army.

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Providence

The Power of Real Heroism

March 31 2022

In an age when the word hero is conflated with and attached to movie stars and athletes and people who risk nothing of consequence, it’s bracing to watch—even from afar—true heroes and true heroism in action. Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, never expected or aspired to be known as a hero. But in standing his ground, Zelensky inspired his countrymen to stand up to Vladimir Putin’s criminal invasion. Together, the Ukrainian people and the man they elected to lead them have reminded the world what real heroism looks like.

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American Legion

Putin's War, Nato's Unity, Ukraine's Valor

MARCH 15 2022

Vladimir Putin’s “unprovoked, unjustified, unconscionable war” has taken thousands of lives, destroyed much of Ukraine’s modern infrastructure and ancient landmarks, and created the largest tidal wave of refugees in Europe since World War II. Yet amidst all these horrors, there’s a flicker of hope: The NATO alliance is more united than at any time since 9/11 – and more important than at any time since 11/9. This is the very opposite of what Putin expected.

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Providence

An Off-Ramp for Putin

MARCH 9 2022

After invading Ukraine without cause, Vladimir Putin’s army is now targeting civilians—apartments, hospitals, schools, religious sites—without remorse or moral constraint. Governments worldwide have responded with heavy economic counterstrikes against Russia and torrents of weapons shipments into Ukraine...But no nation or group of nations—not the US, not NATO, not the UN—is willing to use military force against Russia to stop this bludgeoning. So, responsible powers must find a way to turn this war off—if not a pathway to peace, then at least a path away from war.

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American Security Council Foundation

Common Interests and Common Enemies

MARCH 02 2022

Vladimir Putin’s criminal war against Ukraine promises to have long-term negative consequences. But if there’s a faint trace of a silver lining in the storm Putin has unleashed, it’s the renewal of Turkey’s relationship with the U.S. and NATO.

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Capstones

History's Lesssons for the Crisis in Ukraine

FEBRUARY 07 2022

After a flurry of diktats and deployments, Vladimir Putin’s contrived crisis over Ukraine has triggered a flurry of diplomacy across Europe. It all may be a ploy by Putin to test NATO, or extract concessions, or posture his coiled-to-strike army. Indeed, by the time you read this, Putin may be digesting another slice of Ukraine or hailing himself as peacemaker. Either way, to prevent this from becoming a routine, the U.S. and its allies must address the root causes of the problem. Toward that end, NATO should recall some key lessons from history.

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Providence

NATO Is Still Key to Keeping the Peace in Europe

JANUARY 19 2022

Vladimir Putin’s buildups, bluster, and brinkmanship in and around Ukraine led to a flurry of diplomatic activity in recent weeks, and now the world waits for Putin to make his next move. With Ukraine languishing outside the safety of the NATO alliance, the consensus seems to be that there is little the alliance can do as Putin enforces his latter-day Brezhnev Doctrine. That consensus view is wrong.

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American Security Council Foundation

Responding to Putin—Again

May 11, 2021

After weeks of military buildup on Ukraine’s border—including deployment of 100,000 troops, repositioning dozens of attack aircraft and moving warships from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea—Russian strongman Vladimir Putin appears to be pulling back from yet another invasion of Ukraine. “Appears” is the operative word here. Putin can easily and rapidly muster his troops for another snap exercise—setting the stage for another crisis, another bout of brinkmanship, another invasion, another war against democratic Ukraine. 

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Providence

Foreign Policy and Moral Implications of the Trump-Zelensky Phone Call

OCTOBER 29 2019

What was supposed to be a routine congratulatory phone call between America’s president and a newly elected foreign leader has mushroomed into a political scandal and constitutional showdown. National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman—slated to testify today—is the latest in a growing list of diplomatic and defense officials to express concerns with the call. Others can more effectively discuss the political and legal implications of President Donald Trump’s discussions with—and requests of—President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. What’s been overshadowed amidst all the talk of quid pro quos and impeachment—and understandably so, given the stakes—are the foreign policy, security, and even moral implications of this episode.

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Real Clear Defense

Piecing Together a Postwar Peace

June 16 2023

Ukraine will emerge a battle-hardened, sovereign, independent, Western-oriented state—stronger and more unified than it was before February 24, 2022—and Russia will emerge weaker than it was before Putin unleashed his three-day “special military operation.” This trajectory could lead to several different kinds of “peace.”

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American Legion

Amid Ukraine War, Poland Becomes Critical U.S. Ally

May 10 2023

Thrust to the frontlines of Cold War II by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Poland is taking its place as an essential cog in the NATO alliance, a major contributor to the common defense and a key U.S. ally.

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American Legion

Putin’s plans, pretext for war obliterated

March 10 2023

A year after Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian strongman’s pretext for war, basic premise of the war, and plans for how the war would progress have been exposed as false and deeply flawed. The primary reason for this welcome turn of events is the courage of the Ukrainian people, who are teaching Putin a lesson about the power of free men and women fighting for a just cause.

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American Legion

Ukraine war reopens allied ‘arsenals of democracy’

January 6 2023

“Democracy's fight against world conquest is being greatly aided, and must be more greatly aided, by the rearmament of the United States and by sending every ounce and every ton of munitions and supplies that we can possibly spare to help the defenders who are in the frontlines,” President Franklin Roosevelt intoned as tyrant regimes descended on democracies across Asia and Europe. Our enemies “must be out-fought and out-produced,” he said, adding, “We must be the great arsenal of democracy.”

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American Legion

Why Ukraine’s ‘MacGyver’ military is winning

December 15 2022

The Russian Federation has a population of 145 million, an army of 1.4 million (at least that’s what it was before Feb. 24, 2022), a gross domestic product (GDP) of $1.8 trillion and a military budget of $61.7 billion. Ukraine, by striking contrast, has a population of 44 million, had fewer than 300,000 men under arms before Vladimir Putin’s invasion, and has a GDP of $200 billion and a defense budget of just $5.9 billion.

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American Legion

Strong Signals

October 5 2022

With his army reeling and hemorrhaging, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has doubled down on his blood-soaked blunder in Ukraine – declaring a “period of partial mobilization” designed to replenish the beleaguered Russian military with some 300,000 retired and reserve personnel.

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Providence

Considering Post-War Ukraine

September 21 2022

As the Ukrainian army pushes deeper into Russian-occupied Ukraine, it’s obvious, as some of us noted months ago, that Vladimir Putin has failed to achieve his main objectives (eliminating President Volodymyr Zelensky, erasing Ukraine as a sovereign state, checking and splintering NATO). Now, there is hope that Ukraine’s army of citizen-warriors can reverse what Putin began in 2014 and eject Putin’s invasion force from Ukrainian territory.

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American Legion

Russia learns that (info) war is hell

June 10 2022

With Vladimir Putin’s planned two-day war to topple Ukraine’s democratically elected government now in its fourth month, the free world continues to marvel at the tenacity and toughness of the Ukrainian people. Equally important to their success has been their creativity – especially in the information domain.

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American Security Council Foundation

National Security Expert and Senior Fellow Alan Dowd Talks on the War in Ukraine

May 26 2022

Why did Putin invade the Ukraine? What is Putin's end game? Hosts, Joy Votrobek and Mark Renehan talk to Alan Dowd a National Security Expert and Senior Fellow at the ASCF on NATO and the war in the Ukraine.

Watch Now

Providence

Don't Blame Nato for Russia Invading Ukraine

April 26 2022

As Vladimir Putin continues his war of war crimes against Ukraine, there are arguments swirling around—some more serious than others—that this war is, somehow, NATO’s fault. That’s certainly what Putin believes, but the blame-NATO crowd is wrong.

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Providence

A Blueprint for Defending the Free World through an Alliance of Democracies

April 14 2022

In the weeks since Vladimir Putin unleashed his war on Ukraine, democratic nations have rediscovered that they have the capacity, when working together, to wield enormous power. In the Free World’s multifaceted response to Putin’s war, a blueprint for a global alliance of democracies is emerging.

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American Security Council Foundation

NATO Must Be Ready to Respond to WMD Attack

March 25 2022

There are reports that, with his invasion stalemated and his army in tatters, Vladimir Putin might use chemical, biological, radiological or tactical nuclear weapons (WMDs) in Ukraine. The indications are that as part of a false-flag operation—perhaps involving an ammonia plant or prewar efforts to clean up Soviet-era bioweapons research facilities—the Russian military might accuse Ukraine of a WMD attack and then “respond” in kind. We should hope and pray Putin is just posturing or blustering. 

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Real Clear Defense

The Free World’s Wall of Strength

MARCH 10 2022

Ukraine’s tenacious defense of freedom in the face of Vladimir Putin’s criminal war has inspired the world, reawakened NATO, and re-reminded Americans that our ideals and interests are woven together. President Joe Biden should seize this moment to rebuild, fortify and expand what he aptly called the "wall of strength" embodied by the freedom fighters of Ukraine.

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American Legion

The Cause and Consequences of Putin's War

MARCH 03 2022

How did get here? Putin calls the collapse of the USSR “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the (20th) century.” The end of the USSR meant the loss of Russian control over vast territories (including the Baltics, Ukraine and Georgia), the loss of Moscow’s European buffer zone (embodied by the Warsaw Pact), and the loss of Moscow’s equal footing with great powers. As his December diktat made clear, Putin wants to reacquire as many of those trappings of Russia’s old empire as possible. NATO and an independent Ukraine stand in the way of that goal.

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Capstones

Unity in Nato, Courage in Ukraine

MARCH 01 2022

What many of us feared has come to pass: Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, attempted to decapitate Ukraine’s democratically elected government, laid siege to Ukraine’s cities, and officially opened a new and darker era in Europe. If there’s any good news amidst all of this terrible news, it’s that Putin’s criminal war on Ukraine has made the NATO alliance more united than at any time since 9/11—and more important than at any time since 11/9. This is the very opposite of what Putin expected.

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American Legion

A Trial of Strength in Europe

February 04 2022

After a flurry of diktats and deployments, Vladimir Putin’s contrived crisis over Ukraine has triggered a flurry of diplomacy across Europe. It all may be a ploy by Putin to test NATO, extract concessions or posture his coiled-to-strike army. Indeed, by the time you read this, Putin may be digesting another slice of Ukraine or hailing himself as peacemaker. Either way, to prevent this from becoming a routine, the United States and its allies must address the root causes of the problem. Toward that end, NATO should recall some important lessons from history.

Read More

American Security Council Foundation

Interview: NATO Must Firmly Reject Putin's Demands

JANUARY 05 2022

Give Vladimir Putin his due. He plays a weak hand very well. Regrettably, America and its NATO allies play a strong hand very poorly. With Putin making outrageous demands on NATO, occupying parts of Ukraine, attempting to reverse the settled outcomes of the Cold War, and steadily erasing the sovereignty of Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, it’s time to remind Moscow who holds the ace card.

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American Legion

The Bear is not Bluffing

DECEMBER 17 2020

“For the first time, we’re not chasing anyone,” Russian strongman Vladimir Putin declared in a section of his 2020 State of the Nation address focused on Russia’s military. “We’re not catching up with anyone. On the contrary, other states will have to create weapons that Russia already has.” On this issue, it appears Putin is not bluffing.

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