Three authoritative reports have been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction: Security Challenges in Europe and Posture for Inter-State Competition With Russia; Russia's Counterproductive Counterterrorism; and Countering a Resurgent Russia

Counterproductive Counterterrorism: We convene this hearing to examine the Kremlin's counterterrorism policies and practices. We want to better understand what those practices are, how they developed over time, whether they're effective, and to what extent they dovetail, or not, with U.S. interests. I want to offer a couple of illustrations of why it is so important that we maintain a clear sense of what Russian counterterrorism practices do and do not offer. The first reason is that Russia seeks to claim the mantle of leadership on this issue internationally. I'd like to quote the worldwide threat assessment of the U.S. intelligence community provided to Congress on January 29th of this year. That document includes the following passage: China and Russia are expanding cooperation with each other and through international bodies to shape global rules and standards to their benefit and present a counterweight to the United States and other Western countries. Russia is working to consolidate the U.N.'s counterterrorism structures under the U.N. undersecretary general for counterterrorism, who is a Russian. Both countries probably will use the U.N. as a platform to emphasize sovereignty narratives that reflect their interest and redirect discussions away from human rights, democracy, and good governance.
And so I would ask the panelists, should we be comfortable with Russian leadership in this area? Does the Kremlin have so-called best practices that they can share? Second reason we should care about Russia's counterterrorism practices is that Russia's actions in this space have impact far beyond Russia's borders. As regional experts recently said at a Helsinki Commission briefing, Russia's significant influence in Central Asia can be deeply problematic, through cooperation on repressive measures between security services or by the propagation of disinformation. In addition, as one panelist put it, Russia—this is quote—''is a particularly nefarious influence within the sphere of religious affairs across the region,'' end quote, by painting peaceful religious groups with the label of, quote/unquote, "extremism," and repressing them ruthlessly, potentially furthering radicalization in the process.

Resurgent Russia: If you look at a map of the world, you will not find too many places that Russia is not stirring up trouble. On its own borders, Russia's illegal occupation of Georgia and Ukraine has shattered decades of work to build peace and stability in Europe. Propaganda efforts and cyber warfare across the continent have spread lies and confusion with the clear aim of undermining Western unity and the Transatlantic Alliance. Russia has weaponized its energy resources, expanding into European markets and creating greater and greater dependency, particularly with projects such as the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream. These are clear efforts to increase its influence into European countries and advance its political aims. In the Middle East, Russia has served as a lifeline for the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad, aiding in the wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians. Russia has exported these same so-called counterterrorism tactics to Sub-Saharan Africa, where, for example, in the Central African Republic civilian casualties are mounting.

This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide...