Demonstrators trample a US flag during a protest in front of the US Embassy in Moscow in March 2003, before the beginning of the Iraq War.
Photo: Dmitry Lekay
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Insufferable Strategies
// US Lays Out Strategic Goals for Next Five Years, Slams Russia in Report
The State Department in Washington has revealed its "strategic plan" for foreign policy in 2007-2012. A significant portion of the document is dedicated to America's long-term diplomatic goals in the post-Soviet space, particularly with regard to Russia. For the first time since the Cold War, the US is openly saying that its top priority is to counter Russia's "negative behavior" in numerous areas, from weapons sales to unreliable regimes to pressure from Moscow on the former Soviet republics, whose future the US links with so-called "color revolutions." The new report promises to be yet another source of tensions between Moscow and Washington.
The State Department's Third Strike
The US State Department's new 68-page document, entitled Strategic Plan – Fiscal Years 2007-2012, is an explication of the course of American foreign policy over the next five years. The document lays out fundamental aims and priorities both for Condoleezza Rice's agency and the foreign aid arm of the American government, the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
"In today’s world, it is impossible to draw clear lines between our security interests, our development efforts, and our democratic ideals," says Secretary of State Rice in her introduction to the strategic plan. In her remarks, she names America's chief foreign policy goal on the global level as "advancing a future of freedom, security, and prosperity for the benefit of the American people and the entire world."
This is the third significant "roadmap" document that the State Department has released in a little over a month. The first was the department's annual report on international human rights, which appeared at the beginning of March. The second report, entitled "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: 2006," was published at the beginning of April. Both documents devote significant space to Russia and the countries of the CIS, and both feature unprecedentedly harsh criticism of the situation of democratic rights and freedoms in Russia. In addition, while in the March report the State Department contents itself with some hard-hitting assessments, the April report contains concrete indications that the US is planning to attempt to actively influence the situation in the post-Soviet space, particularly through the promotion of free elections in Russia and elsewhere.
Both reports touched a raw nerve in Russia, and the appearance of a third report, which continues the department's polemic with Moscow on the increasingly touchy issues of "Russian sovereignty" and "American meddling," does nothing to mitigate the situation. Ms. Rice's reference in the preamble of the 2007-2012 report to the impossibility of "[drawing] clear lines between our security interests, our development efforts, and our democratic ideals" is merely Washington's latest attempt to explain why it does not consider America's defense of democracy even thousands of kilometers away from its borders to be interference in the domestic affairs of other nations.
US Ambassador to Russia William Burns explained to Kommersant the rationale behind US efforts to support democratic institutions. Noting that "this issue provokes numerous disputes in today's Russia," Mr. Burns pointed out that American programs operating in Russia are "very limited in terms of dollars spent" and that they are "based on the understanding that we cannot impose our experience or our values on anyone." According to the ambassador, the philosophy behind Washington's actions is based on the desire to advance democracy in other countries by means of the example of America's accumulated experience in the creation of useful economic and political institutions.
The Fly in the Ointment
The decisive statements and assessments concerning Russia that are featured in the "strategic plan" are but the most recent confirmation that the US is settling in for the long haul when it comes to tackling Russian democracy, particularly since America's new five-year plan for foreign policy includes hints that Washington still holds out hope that Russia is not lost to America. According to the new doctrine, "the United States wants to see Russia become an open, democratic, and stable geopolitical partner," a goal that the State Department hopes to achieve through "a wide range of economic, social, scientific, and political ties."
According to the report, Washington has a "strong interest in reinforcing positive trends," including facilitating Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization, its integration into the global economy, and the appearance of a Russian middle class that is "supportive of democratic institutions and the rule of law." Nevertheless, the report makes clear that the interest of advancing these and other cooperative aims in the current political climate will not oblige the US to turn a blind eye to the flaws in Russian democracy. "We will engage with Russia where we can do so productively, while continuing to stand firm - with the support of our European and other allies - for the values of democracy, human rights, and freedom and to push back on negative Russian behavior," promises the State Department's plan.
Judging from the report, Washington sees more evidence of "negative behavior" on the part of Russia today than at any other time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The laundry list of things that the Bush administration does not approve of includes "increasing centralization of power, pressure on NGOs and civil society, a growing government role in the economy, and restrictions on media freedom," all of which the report terms "clear and worrisome trends." Another "major concern" for Washington is "Russian weapon sales to such states as Iran, Syria, and Venezuela."
Perhaps the most unpalatable part of the report for Moscow is the apparent confirmation of future inevitable rivalry between America and Russia in the post-Soviet space. According to the document, "Russia’s policy toward its neighbors is another major challenge, especially Moscow’s support for separatist regions in Georgia and Moldova, its political and economic pressure against Georgia, and its monopolistic use of energy to pressure neighboring states and gain control of infrastructure and strategic assets." While accusing Moscow of employing energy levers to subjugate its neighbors in the CIS, the US makes no bones about the steps that it will be taking in the future to combat Moscow's reach and "bolster regional energy security": namely, "diversifying energy sources, increasing transparency, and improving the efficiency of energy usage."
Long Live the Color Revolutions!
Another point in the State Department's report that is guaranteed to strain ties between Moscow and Washington is the paragraph that concerns the GUAM association, which "new democracies in Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova" (plus Azerbaijan) have created as a potential alternative to the CIS. The report unambiguously makes it clear that one goal of American foreign policy over the next few years will be to help these countries to move closer to European and Euro-Atlantic institutions by "[providing] our support, encouragement, and technical advice." In order to "promote reform and democratic development," the State Department intends to continue to offer "support for civil society and independent media, bilaterally, in conjunction with the EU, and through multilateral fora such as the OSCE."
For the Kremlin, however, the report's coup de grace is a single sentence embedded deep in its 68 pages of text: "Elsewhere in Eurasia, people yearn for the hope kindled by the 'color revolutions' of 2003-2005."
Thus the report, the third from the State Department in only a few weeks to devote significant space to Russia, also contains some of the harshest criticism directed at Russia in recent years. After the dissolution of the USSR, not a single official American document threw such specific challenges in Russia's direction or had anything to say about the necessity of combating Moscow's "negative behavior." Criticism in Washington of Moscow is clearly on the rise, making prospects for Russian-American cooperation over the next five years murky at best.
Russia in the State Department's Sights
The recent "strategic plan" of the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is the fourth to be published since 1999. The three previous editions of the plan did not feature a special section devoted to Russia, but relations with Moscow have consistently been given a starring role in the reports.
The first "strategic plan" developed by the US government was in February 1999. That report mentions that "support for democracy in Russia is crucial to US national security interests." The State Department accordingly planned to lend its support to democratic institutions and human rights organizations in the region. Russia and China are mentioned as "potential long-term security challenges," although tensions with them are accorded a low possibility of developing into military clashes. A suggested key area of cooperation with Russia is in the area of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
In the second "strategic plan," which was published in September 2000, Russia, as a nuclear-armed power, is listed as a threat to US national security. The report emphasizes the importance of taking action to secure Russia's nuclear arsenal and to protect its stockpiles of chemical weapons. Moscow is criticized for its contact with Iran in the sphere of nuclear technology, and another negative factor laid at Russia's doorstep is an increase in criminal activity perpetrated by Russians around the world.
In the report released in August 2003, which covered the period from 2004 to 2009, it is noted that relations with Russia "are leading to positive results for both countries in the sphere of curtailing nuclear capabilities, combating international terrorism, resolving regional conflicts, and developing Russian energy potential." The State Department's plan was to develop cooperation in these areas and to increase efforts to stem the flow of Russian nuclear technology to Iran and Syria. One of the report's stated priorities was the support of Russia's entry into the WTO.
Sergei Strokan
All the Article in Russian as of Apr. 17, 2007
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