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Explain the significance of your proposed country, region, and language to U.S. national security. The Boren Awards recognize a broad definition of national security, but you should make a specific, detailed, and focused argument.

With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, hope began to grow for a democratic Russian Federation that might become a regional partner rather than adversary. It was not to last—the nineties, and the decade of Russian reorientation passed, revealing a Kremlin with objectives once again in direct opposition to American policy and influence abroad. The military offenses that would follow at the beginning of the 21st century, first in Georgia and then in Ukraine, demonstrated to the world that Russia would not hesitate to use its military capabilities in countering the expansion of Western institutions and US influence in the post-Soviet sphere. As a prospective Military Intelligence officer in the US Army, it is directly pertinent to examine two immediate strategic consequences of Russian aggression in Ukraine and Georgia: the diminished strength of potential regional allies, the loss of territory with strategic significance. (mention the human rights considerations?)

Should military conflict with Russia prove necessary, strong regional allies will provide the partnerships necessary for success. Given the geographic proximity of Ukraine and Georgia to strategic Russian territory and their desire to deepen US military cooperation, these nations are likely candidates for coalition building. The strength of these potential allies, however, is compromised—Russian actions have reduced economic capacity and popular support in these nations toward collaboration with the US in countering Russian aggression. In Ukraine, the now-occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk represented the primary centers of industrial output and contained over three-quarters of Ukrainian coal reserves, a resource which accounts for over 95% Ukraine’s domestic energy. The ports of the Crimean peninsula, meanwhile, allowed access to the Black Sea (and by extension, world markets), and was a billion-dollar source of income through tourism. Georgia is similarly weakened, and remains locked in an internal struggle over its occupied territories, reluctant to look west with the threat of further Russian involvement looming over Tbilisi (the pro-western Mikheil Saakashvili lost re-elections out of popular fear of Russian reprisal). Having weakened Ukraine’s economic and industrial ability to engage in military cooperation with America and Georgia’s popular will to associate further with Western international institutions, it should be an immediate objective of the United States to restore sovereign control of Ukrainian and Georgian territory and ensure that further Russian expansion is made unfeasible.

In seizing Ukrainian and Georgian territory, Russia has assimilated territory which could prove decisive in conventional warfare. Strategically speaking, gain at the expense of an adversary is always the most valuable, and Russia has gained unrestricted access to the naval infrastructure at Sevestapol at the expense of Ukraine and its potential Western partners, allowing Russia unrestricted control over the Black Sea. In Georgia, the Russian-held territory of South Ossetia allows Russia to full control over the Transcaucasian Highway and is thus in a favorable position to defend against land-based offenses into the Russian south. The possibility of conventional war with Russia still remains unlikely, yet it is not impossible, and actions which present a strategic advantage to Russia in a potential conflict should be a foremost interest in American policy.

With the significance of the nations of Georgia and Ukraine established to national security, it is now necessary to address the relevance of the Russian language, which I intend to study alongside either Ukrainian or Georgian, depending on the region available. Each language has individual significance, and each carries its own role in protecting American security interests.

The use of Russian will be critical in offensive and defensive military operations. Intelligence cannot be collected from any source, be it human or electronic, without an understanding of the language, and intercepted communications are similarly useless without available interpretation. At the strategic level, the historical and cultural factors which can influence military thought must be assimilated to allow effective decision making. Of equal importance is establishing an effective relationship with civilian populations—lessons learned from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have taught us of the necessity of engaging with civilian populations in a favorable manner to minimize collateral damage and defer the creation of insurgencies.

As previously noted, Georgia and Ukraine are geographically and politically situated to be two of the most significant regional partners in the goal of countering Russian aggression. Without linguistic and regional expertise, these partnerships will never reach their potential—regional experts can use their understanding of mutually distinct cultures to bridge the inherent gap present in the communication between two disparate cultures. As noted by General James Mattis (Ret.), cultural expertise is one of the most powerful weapons at the disposal of the armed forces—that those “[who] understood the world does not revolve around America and [who] embrace coalitions and allies for all of the strengths that they bring us” are critical in the creation and maintenance of coalitions, which form the basis of modern warfare.

Finally, the potency of bilingualism should not be underestimated. The regions vulnerable to aggression in Georgia and Russia are each multicultural, hosting both those of native origin and a Russophone population. It is for this reason that Vladimir Putin is able to channel the rhetoric of “liberation” and “protection” toward the defense of Russia’s unprecedented actions.

Georgia and Ukraine are two of the most important regions whose effective [utilization] will define success or failure in a conflict with Russia. In order to protect american interests and counter Russian aggression, these allies must be first strengthened against Russian occupation, a process which will require regional and cultural expertise. Should these preventative measures still prove insufficient, the Russian language will be critical in the conflict that may follow. Either way, it is clear that this region is of critical import to US national security and the study of its language and culture is critical to its defense.