There has been much written lately about “resetting” our relationship with Russia including commentary that has been humorous, supportive and at times, skeptical, but most importantly it has brought attention back to why our relationship matters. Ambassador William Burns recently spoke at the Russian World Forum about just this issue. We have worked with Ambassador Burns while he was the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, so his key points really are, in our opinion, right on track. His first point is that Russia matters. He comments that “few nations could make more of a difference to our success than Russia.” Since FRAEC was launched in 1989 we understood this and have worked continuously to create a more secure world in cooperation with Russia.
In his speech, which can be found on the US Department of State website, he outlines his perspective on what needs to happen to ensure a good working relationship. Among the major items, such as addressing nonproliferation and combatting terrorism, he speaks about the importance of continuing our joint efforts to expand Russian-American economic ties, which we applaud.
This has been the focus of FRAEC, in particular through our Russian American Pacific Partnership (RAPP), originally the US-RFE Ad hoc Working Group, once part of the former Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission. For 15 years we have been focusing on our bilateral economic ties by engaging federal, local, business and community leaders in both countries. We have done this during the good, lean and difficult times. For example, we held an emergency meeting in the Russian Far East during the 1998 financial crisis to underscore the importance of our trade relations. We were on Lake Baikal at our RAPP meeting on September 11, 2001, bringing all of us closer together. And in spite of the colder periods during the last few years, our Russian colleagues from government and the private sector continued to find ways to increase our cooperation. So, we welcome the concerted effort to “warm” our relationship, to find practical, mutually beneficial opportunities to cooperate on the larger issues facing the world. Ambassador Burn’s closing comment that it is “vital to get U.S.-Russian relations right” is on the mark.
I’ll surely offer a congratulations to Carol Vipperman and the team at FRAEC: the enthusiastic and undaunted efforts have done just that — as intoned in the blog opening reviews, they have sustained conversation; and that’s the crucial component — keeping the issues, the exchanges alive in conversations that add momentum and continuance of the shifting perspectives of human community, communications and mutually relevant and resonant exploration.
Really, what do we know about the Russians — how are we truly “caring” for them — and conversely, what “caring” and “sharing” will balance the connections with our communities as we explore new directions, internationally and, as a world? While I’ve not had the chance — recently — to work with, or partner with the Russians, I’m hoping for a chance some time in the future, as our world continues to turning as one, as opposed to the gyrations of many disparate entities.
Watching for more, wishing well to all at FRAEC:
tsg
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E x p l o r i n g f i r e b r a n d s:
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As someone who spends a great deal of time in Russia, both working and visiting relatives (my wife is Russian) I look forward to an improvement of relations between the two countries. Russians generally like Americans. My friends here are somewhat dismayed to see Americas recent turn in the direction of socialism but they never confuse the government with the people. They are somewhat confused as to why the US is so often “anti-Russian.” So am I, I think a lot of it is misunderstanding and poor press. The US media seems to be divided into two groups, one stuck in the old cold war mentality of mistrust, the other stuck in far left wing politics that wants the world to see Russia as a dictatorship. This latter group fails to recognize that the vast majority of Russians are favorable towards their leaders. Nothing is perfect and Russians have many good reasons to be mistrustful of government but the general opinion here is favorable toward Putin and Medvedev, regardless of how hard CNN tries to paint the picture otherwise by interviewing a few malcontents. Improving relations between the US and Russia would greatly benefit both countries.