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In the wake of the Russia-Georgia conflict, the United States should pursue a comprehensive 12 step strategy towards its relations with Russia. Although this strategy would focus on protecting American national interests, it does not exclude directly speaking with the Russians. Consequently, it stresses that cooperation on certain issues and successful diplomacy are essential for the two nations.
The Russia-Georgia conflict has not only re-defined the balance of power in the Caucasus but also Russia’s relations with the world. To understand what a re-emergent Russia wants, Carnegie Europe has hosted the first of its new ‘Live from…’ video briefing with leading Russian foreign policy expert, Dmitri Trenin.
This year’s Valdai Discussion Club— a Kremlin sponsored annual discussion among a wide range of global experts on Russia- focused on Chechnya, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia. However, the Kremlin’s increasing use of this conference as a propaganda tool has raised questions about whether Western specialists should attend future meetings.
Russia’s new strength and its waning dependence on Western financial institutions help explain the Kremlin’s rejection of a unipolar world dominated by the United States. Russia’s actions in Georgia follow through on what Putin has been saying for years–Russia will not allow Georgia or Ukraine to become a member of NATO.
Those who argue that the West should be bolder in its response to a newly assertive Russia are using the past to deal with a very different present and a highly uncertain future. The West must first determine what Russia wants and where it is heading and should then structure a security relationship in Europe that would both include Russia and reassure its wary neighbors.
The recent collapse of the ruling coalition in Ukraine reveals a vast schism in the country’s views towards Russia. However, leaders in America, Europe, Russia, and Ukraine need to agree on ways of keeping Ukraine united and at peace because should a clash between Russia and Ukraine occur , it could prove to be more disastrous than the current conflict in Georgia.
As John McCain formally accepts his nomination for president, Russian coverage of the event and the campaign in general has been distanced and sometimes condescending. Instead, the Russian media has mainly been focused on the events in Georgia.
H.E. Nino Burjanadze, former speaker of the Georgian parliament, warned that the current Russian show of force was more about Russia’s attempt to establish a new regional order rather than support the independence efforts of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), an integral part of the bilateral nuclear relationship between Russia and the United States, will expire in December 2009. To discuss what should replace the treaty, the Carnegie Moscow Center hosted Ambassador Linton Brooks, the United States’ chief negotiator during the 1991 START talks.
Russia’s aspirations for the next U.S. administration, although taken with a grain of salt, should not be treated as irrelevant. Ideally, from a Russian perspective, the next administration will act on the basis of U.S. interests and avoid unilateralism. Nevertheless, Russia does not seek to supplant the current U.S. system with a different one.
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