Problem Solving: Talk and Action
// The price of the question
You can call Russian-American relations what you like – selective cooperation, a return to detente, even a cold war. But you can't call it strategic partnership. Judging by the campaign rhetoric in the United States, relations have undeniable cooled down. The last incident with will force the U.S. and Russia even farther apart. And that, along with other irritants, prevents not only the two countries, but the entire world community, from solving truly serious problems. Those problems are no less serious than the ones the U.S. and USSR reached agreements on, even at the height of the Cold War.
Relations between Russia and the U.S. are based on mutual political dependence. That dependence will prohibit the new president, whether Democrat or Republican, from dealing with Russia according to his or her campaign promises. Any president, whatever his personal political convictions, has to uphold the interests of the United States first. That means America has to cooperate with Russia in a number of areas, out of necessity, if not out of desire. No American president has ever let that level of cooperation fall lower than it is today. And the level was never very high in any case.
That level is so low that experts are concerned that any rash actions, or even emotions, by Russia or the U.S. They could severe dialog completely, and that would be dangerous not only for the two countries, but for the world community as a whole. The solution of global problems that require the joint effort of the U.S. and Russia would be left floundering.
Among the main problems that neither the U.S. nor Russia can handle alone is international terrorism. But experts say the country's joint actions are not optimally effective. Each country fights its “own” terrorists and the countries do not trust each other.
Another area of global Russian-American cooperation is nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. At one time, the U.S. and USSR were the initiators of nonproliferation. Now the world community cannot do anything about the new members joining the nuclear club. The world is waiting, of course, for initiative from Russia and the U.S. A real solution, such as a full ban on nuclear weapons, like the one on chemical weapons, depends on them.
Experts predict that increased military activity by the U.S. on the battlegrounds of democracy and human rights. But human rights violations are not a Russian issue. The European Court of Human Rights is full of complaints from every corner of Europe. That's bad, of course. But Russia, unlike the old democracies, knows its shortcomings and so is capable of self-criticism and development. It is worse to talk about the perfection of your regime and lose all capacity for reflection on one's own failings of guiding principles.
Mikhail Margelov, Chairman of the Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 12, 2008
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