Media advisory: KU expert available to discuss NATO summit

LAWRENCE — NATO leaders on Friday approved plans for a rapid reaction force of 4,000 people headquartered in Eastern Europe in response to recent Russian military actions in Ukraine. Issues in Afghanistan and the effects of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, have also captured significant attention at the NATO summit in Wales. A University of Kansas expert is available to comment on the issues surrounding the summit.

Jacob Kipp, an adjunct professor in the Department of History, is available to discuss Russian military affairs, European security issues, the conflict in Ukraine and the history of NATO-Russian issues.

Kipp has worked on NATO-Russian issues as a senior analyst with the Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth and has taught on Russian and Soviet history for several decades. He is also a contributor to the Eurasia Daily Monitor of the Jamestown Foundation. He served as the U.S. editor of European Security. He spoke earlier this week at an event sponsored by KU's Center of Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies, CREES.

"NATO has taken one key step in reassuring the Baltic NATO members by enhancing NATO's rapid reaction forces so they can move rapidly in case of a crisis," Kipp said. "This will involve presence but without permanent deployments in Eastern Europe. A more symbolic action is the fact that United States and 14 other partner states will run the Rapid-Trident exercise in western Ukraine in mid-to-late September as a way of showing military solidarity. The exercise is billed as a peacekeeping one."

Kipp said in addition to dealing with ISIS in the Middle East, how NATO handles the draw down in Afghanistan will be an important topic at the summit.

"The Taliban has increased its attacks and seems to be getting ready for a serious blow against International Security Assistance Force when it will be most vulnerable," he said. "This was the largest and longest out-of-area operation for NATO and a defeat would be a very serious blow to the alliance. Afghanistan is still politically unstable after its elections."