True this is the largest swap of spies in decades and therefore deserves to be observed and reported; however, the media coverage has been fascinating, to say the least. It has ranged from the amusing, such as the Daily’s show coverage (worth watching by the way),  to more serious coverage, including a map of the timing of the swap on NPR, and much more. And without a doubt  there will be continued analysis of who did what, why the arrests were timed when they were, how the spies are adjusting and what this means for our US-Russian relationship. For me the readiness of both sides to make this swap happen quickly is a clear indication that our increased cooperation and newly “reset” relationship is a priority, which is good news.

Although the Russian spy story has made for interesting and tantalizing media coverage, it has unfortunately stirred up old, cold war feelings of mistrust and suspicion. It is well understood by most Americans that all countries have intelligence services active around the world; however, it seems that Russia holds a very special place in people’s minds. For Russians who live here, this incident has set off a number of reactions so well captured by one blogger, Yuri Mamchur, in his piece: Thanks a lot, Kremlin! For those of us who work to strengthen our economic and community ties, it has been a bit frustrating. There are far more interesting and compelling stories of how Russians and Americans are working together to improve our communities  that do not see the light of day in the media.

The bottom line is that the resolve to improve the relationship between our countries is firm and that we have more work to do to help dispel those lingering suspicions.

Kindering Center, Bellevue, WA

Today I had an opportunity to meet with a former grantee of ours, Mimi Siegel from the Kindering Center. She and I were talking about the impact made on the lives of children and families in the Russian Far East as a result of their partnership with the Vladivostok Center for Early Intervention six years ago. Together they created the first early intervention center of its kind in the Russian Far East to help infants and children from birth to three years with developmental disabilities, as well as to help autistic children between the ages of 2-4.

Vladivostok Center for Early Intervention

As Mimi said, the idea of intervention is very simple – treatment is most effective when administered as early as possible. Scientific research shows that the first two to three years of a child’s life is most critical in the development of a child’s brain and personality.

During their time working together over 178 children and parents came to the center in Vladivostok for evaluation and assistance. Using the concept of express-diagnosis for developmental levels, a method that was replicated from Kindering’s experience, the children’s hospitals were better equiped to refer children to the center.

When I asked Mimi what she considered the results to be from this partnership, she first stated that children and families were being better served in Russia. She also mentioned that they formed long-lasting friendships and  finally that the Kindering team that traveled to Russia, upon their return, were better able to serve the large Russian speaking population in her own community.

Since the launch of this first center two others have been created in Khabarovsk and on Sakhalin Island where they continue to serve families and children today. This is clearly an example of partnerships that make a difference and FRAEC is very pleased to have played a part in their success.

The risk of  ‘Dutch Disease’ will worsen by 2020 and predicts that “Russian oil and gas will run out in 21.9 years and 9.4 years, respectively”. The report states that Russia should turn its focus on innovation in the energy sector.

There are many obstacles to face, including legislative, as outlined in  Forbes,  as well as,  “lack of motivation, lack of information, lack of funding and long-term investments as well as lack of organization and coordination” according to the report.

In spite of these obstacles, Russia’s regions have been pioneers, the UNDP reports.  Laws have been enacted in 43 regions, many have energy-saving programs, and 75 regions have established funds and agencies to work on energy efficiency. In the top ten regions that are considered most energy-efficient, two regions, the Amur Region and Chukotka, are number 5 and 8 respectively,  with the Sakhalin Region coming in at number 17.

This report urges the Russian government to put a real emphasis on energy efficiency on all levels of government. President Medvedev has listed energy efficiency as a key area for modernization in a recent speech to the DUMA. However,  at the moment,  it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Economic Development and it is not  surprising that energy efficiency has appeared on the list of top priorities for the Business Development and Economic Relations Working Group under the Presidential Bilateral Commission.

Although some see the obvious need for European expertise and technologies, as well as direct investment in energy efficiency projects, the United States, and, in particular, the Pacific Northwest could play an important role.  The Pacific Northwest is increasingly seen as a leader in energy efficiency in both  expertise and technologies. Perhaps a partnership between the Russian Far East regions and the Northwest will give a boost  to Russia’s  move to energy efficiency while, at the same time, creating jobs and other joint opportunities for both country’s businesses. It is worth exploring.

I know Zheleznogorsk well. FRAEC  worked with the Department of Energy for seven years through its Nuclear Cities Initiative to help find civilian jobs for the citizens of Zheleznogorsk who worked with the plutonium reactor. We helped create the International Development Center, a Russian nonprofit organization, to be the vehicle for this goal. The IDC still operates today in Zheleznogorsk providing real assistance to the many businesses and individuals who work there.

The issue of closing the reactor has been  a very sensitive one for the people of Zheleznogorsk. The reactor provided heat and electricity to the city and the  winters there get very cold – -40 degrees C.  I know. I was there on many cold winter days.  During one trip, I felt the frustration and anger of some of its leaders  when  asked if we could guarantee that they would have a new fossil fuel plant replacement, built with U.S. funds and contractors,  in time. Those of us who were there did not have anything to do with this project, but they vented anyway.

The closure is good for Russia, the U.S. and the world. Hopefully the new plant will be open and heating the city soon.

Every April 12th the world celebrates Yuri’s Night to commemorate this first flight in space but also the launch of the first Space Shuttle, STS-1, on April 12, 1981. There is a large following that celebrates Yuri’s Night around the world, including Antarctica. In Seattle, Yuri’s Night is celebrated at the Museum of Flight and I had the opportunity of attending last night.

In addition to a short piece from a documentary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight and the Space Shuttle, Dr. Bonnie J. Dunbar, CEO of the Museum of Flight and an Astronaut,  gave an excellent presentation of her own preparation and eventual flight to the MIR Station.

The celebration of these two milestones is one way for those who care about space can inform and inspire interest in our space programs  for the future.  It is particularly important now as the U.S. is retiring its space shuttle and will be dependent upon Russia to transport our Astronauts to the International Space Station. By the way, if you are interested in tracking the International Space Station, which is as large as a football field and is visible from the earth we were told, you can do so by going to this site.

This celebration had a very personal quality for me as I had the privilege to tour Russia’s Star City in 1997, where the Cosmonauts and Astronauts train for their missions. It was a very impressive tour, including a view of Yuri Gagarin’s desk and the mock-up of the MIR; an experience I will not forget.

So where are our space programs going from here in Russia and the US? As Dr. Dunbar shared, probably Mars and maybe the Moon will become a staging center for that trip to Mars, which  takes 6 months each way.

A lot to think about and something we should all celebrate. Join the many fans of space who celebrate this new frontier by attending the next Yuri’s Night either in your local community or online. I know I will.

Vladimir Pozner and Carol Vipperman

Last Thursday night, November 19th,  the Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation celebrated our 20th Anniversary with an evening gala featuring keynote speaker Vladimir Pozner. It was a very successful event by all accounts. Pozner’s remarks focused on the importance and the challenge of truly building a partnership between Russia and America. It was a thought-provoking presentation that generated a number of questions  from both the Russian and American guests at the dinner. (More on his comments and my thoughts in another post).

The evening had special significance for me as 20 years ago on November 19th I was officially tapped to be the Foundation’s Executive Director. That founding board passed the hat, raised $400 and told me to “go for it”. Well we did, and the video here highlights those 20 years working with Russia.  I hope you find it informative. Please let me know what you think.

You can only imagine my dismay having just participated in our bilateral forum, the Russian American Pacific Partnership (RAPP), just days before. There the mood was upbeat and many talked about the “new opportunities” for our two countries due to the “reset of the relationship”. Granted we were at a meeting with people who had “shared interests”, but to read the results of this poll was discouraging. Even Ryzhkov was surprised by the findings. According to the Levada Center study, “Russian respondents were positive that the United States is to blame for the main problems in the world today.”

The article highlights another study conducted in June that indicated that, “85 percent of Russians, as well as their friends and relatives, have never been to the United States” and an 95 percent of respondents said that they “never had any form of contact with an American, or only a brief encounter.”

At our RAPP breakout session on Community Development: Public-Private Cooperation, the importance of exchanges was discussed at length. Over the years many Russians from business, academia, science, government, nongovernment and youth organizations have traveled to the U.S. on U.S. government funded exchange programs. These exchanges help build understanding and further cooperative efforts, a worthwhile investment in my opinion. However, at the meeting it was noted that the number of U.S. youth coming to Russia has decreased.  There was a strong call for more funded programs to bring young American students to Russia.

This call for more engagement through exchanges, to bring more Russians in contact with Americans, is an important tool to help improve our mutual understanding and image. Clearly we have some work to do if these polls are indicative of the larger impression by Russians of the United States.

Russian Foreign Deputy Minister Ryabkov and Deputy Ex-Plenipotentiary Representative Levintal

“Spark and exploit” new opportunities was one of the messages at the 14^th Annual Meeting of the Russian American Pacific Partnership (RAPP) held on Sakhalin Island this week. U.S. and Russian federal leaders listened to the issues in our trans-pacific relationship. Just less than one month away from the first meeting of the Presidential Bilateral Commission Co-chairs, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, RAPP participants seized the opportunity to give their recommendations and perspectives.

At the opening plenary, Sakhalin Governor Alexander Khoroshavin captured the mood of the past 15 years by stating that in the ‘90’s we were optimistic then disillusioned and now the meeting’s theme, “ A Meeting of Shared Interests”, captures the new possibilities we face. Russian Foreign Deputy Minister Sergey Ryabkov, fresh from the G-20 and United Nations meetings, cited the uniqueness of the Russian Far East (RFE) region and RAPP. Interregional cooperation, according to Ryabkov, is becoming more important in Russia’s strategy. Improving small and medium-sized business and alternative energy cooperation is a priority that he asked RAPP to address. Alexander Levintal, Deputy Ex-plenipotentiary Representative of the President of Russia in the Far Eastern Federal District, highlighted the importance of developing the “intellectual economy” in the RFE and that RAPP is a “permanent player” in the region. Matthias Mitman, Economic Minister Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, echoed the call for building prosperity through the intellectual economy and stated that the Pacific Basin is acknowledged as the “most dynamic region in the world”.

In a discussion on the priorities of the new Presidential commission, the federal representatives responded to questions from the participants. When asked as to how this new commission is different from the previous Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission, the response was: “more proactive and results driven” and “less bureaucratic”. The Business Development and Economic Relations Working Group, co-chaired by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina, has on its current agenda 10 items including a placeholder for the recommendations from this RAPP meeting.

In the afternoon 19 presentations were delivered by key U.S. and Russian leaders on Oil and Gas, Technologies, Russian Priority Development projects, Community Development and Transportation providing the basis for discussion in the breakout sessions the next day. Over 25 recommendations emerged from the breakout sessions focused on Expanding Trans-Pacific Bilateral Trade, Opportunities through Applied Technologies and Community Development and Public-Private Cooperation. The report with these recommendations will be forwarded to the Bilateral Commission and will be made available to the public soon.

This was a special time for this meeting. Not just because of the newly formed Presidential Bilateral Forum, which gave new energy and excitement to the work of those attending RAPP, but also because the closing day was on September 29^th. Just 15 years ago on that day, President Boris Yeltsin announced in Seattle that he wanted to “create a new relationship” between the US West Coast and the Russian Far East. No one then understood how important that proclamation would be for our trans-pacific relationship. We have come a long way since then and there is more to come.

I also had the opportunity to be on a live show called Public Exposure, a local Seattle-based news event program, and the video links (three part interview) are now on YouTube.

Part One:

Part Two:

Part Three:

I am off to Sakhalin tomorrow and expect to blog on the events that will unfold during our bilateral forum, The Russian American Pacific Partnership,  on September 29-30. More later.

It is noteworthy that this is the first summit in 7 years and that there was progress on the reduction of nuclear weapons and expanded economic ties. Monday, both Presidents announced the formation of a U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission with working groups that are reminiscent of the former Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission. For those of us in Washington State, we have two locals leading two of the working groups: US Department of Commerce Gary Locke on Business Development and Economic Relations and Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, on the Drug Trafficking Working Group.

FRAEC’s Director of the Russian American Pacific Partnership, Derek Norberg, is in Moscow and attended the Business Summit on Tuesday, July 7th.  He gives a more “up close and personal” perspective of what has happened, especially during the business summit itself. He reports that “there does seem a desire to ensure that a positive tone is maintained, even at the expense of addressing the serious issues that are well known to both sides. It is probably an appropriate approach, with US-Russian relations having fallen to such a low level; the re-set deserves a soft start before the real work begins. ” To read his full report, please click here.