Though the United States is engaged in military aid efforts with dozens of countries across the globe, few take place in more contested environments or hold more battlefield significance than in Ukraine. Kyiv’s grinding defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion has depended on the over $43 billion in direct U.S. military aid committed to Ukraine over the last 17 months, the contours of which are shaping daily realities for troops on the ground.
But despite its very immediate and weighty consequences for Ukraine’s war effort, Washington’s military aid effort for Kyiv has eschewed the sort of secrecy that typifies more routine U.S. security assistance partnerships. Instead, the Biden administration has adopted a remarkably transparent (albeit imperfect) approach to U.S. security assistance to Ukraine, publishing regular updates on the value, quantity, and type of military transfers to Kyiv, engaging consistently to respond to and, in some cases, pre-empt congressional inquiries, and publicizing the rationale and risk-mitigation efforts associated with the aid effort. But while the administration deserves credit for the public engagement it has committed to on this partnership, the approach casts a stark light on the opacity of broader security cooperation programming and begs the question – if transparency is possible with respect to Ukraine, why is it so difficult for other partnerships?
Ukraine Shows that Military Aid Transparency Is Possible
By Elias Yousif
Conventional Arms
Originally published in Just Security
Though the United States is engaged in military aid efforts with dozens of countries across the globe, few take place in more contested environments or hold more battlefield significance than in Ukraine. Kyiv’s grinding defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion has depended on the over $43 billion in direct U.S. military aid committed to Ukraine over the last 17 months, the contours of which are shaping daily realities for troops on the ground.
But despite its very immediate and weighty consequences for Ukraine’s war effort, Washington’s military aid effort for Kyiv has eschewed the sort of secrecy that typifies more routine U.S. security assistance partnerships. Instead, the Biden administration has adopted a remarkably transparent (albeit imperfect) approach to U.S. security assistance to Ukraine, publishing regular updates on the value, quantity, and type of military transfers to Kyiv, engaging consistently to respond to and, in some cases, pre-empt congressional inquiries, and publicizing the rationale and risk-mitigation efforts associated with the aid effort. But while the administration deserves credit for the public engagement it has committed to on this partnership, the approach casts a stark light on the opacity of broader security cooperation programming and begs the question – if transparency is possible with respect to Ukraine, why is it so difficult for other partnerships?
Read the full article on Just Security
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