Presentation by Georgia's Ambassador to the US and a panel discussion.
When diplomatic historians look back on the 1990s, they should describe it as the era of European integration. They will do so, however, only if the project is completed. As the Bush administration begins the process of promoting democratic regime change along a new frontier in the Muslim world, it must also finish the job on the European frontier.
We must continue to focus on the control and reduction of nuclear weapons. This issue is not the highest agenda item in U.S.-Russian relations any more, however, we need continued high-level interactions that result in policy tools to effect control and reductions, in the first instance legally-binding treaties and agreements like the Moscow Treaty.
Gianni Zanini, a Senior Evaluation Officer at the World Bank, presented the findings of the recent Country Assistance Evaluation (CAE) on the Russian Federation, prepared for the World Bank Operations Evaluation Department (OED). The moderator was Anders Åslund.
Russian State Duma member Aslanbek Aslakhanov, spoke on the current political situation in Chechnya.
President Bush and his administration opposed negotiating a binding arms control agreement to limit nuclear force. President Putin wanted a legally binding document. Each side got what they wanted with the Treaty of Moscow; a legally binding document that fails to control or reduce anything.
If Putin and Bush are able to drive forward on the agenda that they have set for themselves, then we will truly enter a new period of U.S.-Russian partnership. If they do not, then the relationship will drift, and we'll be left with the worst of all worlds -- informality without progress, casual friendship without results.