Thank you very much.
My short answer is yes, I can categorically reassure you—with the caveat that we are developing a counterstrategy. The issue you've touched on is crucially important, and I'll speak a little more about it in a second. I can assure you and members of the committee that we are well aware of the extent, the nature, and the seriousness of that challenge, as well as the great importance of our participation in the enhanced forward presence deployment and of our being aware of and countering that challenge. As we speak, the relevant communications teams, both from DND and from my department, are engaged in active discussions about specific strategies to counter this.
Certainly, I would take the opportunity to, first of all, welcome your comments. It came through during your recent visits how serious this challenge is. I think we have to recognize that when it comes to the Russians, we can never lose sight of the fact, whether it's explicit or on some internal level, that they appreciate that the west is stronger. In fact, this is one of the factors that make Russia such a challenge. But I think that on some level, even though President Putin would never say it out loud, the fact is that they demonstrate this with their feet, whatever their level of national patriotism, whatever they're saying in terms of their speeches. They still send their children to London and keep their money in London and go to Harvard rather than Moscow State University.
I say this because this fuels a Russian view of their being in a vital life-and-death struggle with the west, which is committed to containing them, to reducing their sphere of influence, and to limiting their role in the world. Given that their adversary is, on many levels, stronger, anything goes. One of the things that goes is precisely the phenomenon that you've been describing.