Телефон доверия для ветеранов

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talks to about 700 attendees during a student conference on national affairs at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, Feb. 19, 2015. DoD photo by D. Myles Cullen (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey spoke today at a student conference on national affairs at Texas A&M University, rounding out a two-day visit to the campus.

He outlined his "two, two, two and one" view on national security, which is comprised of two heavyweights, two middleweights, two networks and one domain.

Russia is included as a heavyweight, along with China.

Russia ‘Lit a Fire’

Russia "lit a fire of ethnicity and nationalism that actually threatens to burn out of control," he said. "And in so doing, they are threatening our NATO allies."

Dempsey said it is hard to imagine that in 2015 there would be that kind of conflict and "those kind of instincts" that are coming to the front again in Europe.

The human suffering in Ukraine is "atrocious," he said.

"It's almost unimaginable," the chairman told the audience, which included members of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets, other university students and members of the military.

The United States is working with its NATO allies, he said, to reassure the alliance and also try to assist Eastern Europe, including non-NATO countries, in "suppressing this effort to rekindle fires that haven’t burned in Europe" in 70 years.