CIAO DATE: 08/02

An Agenda for Renewal: U.S.–Russian Relations

Russian and Eurasian Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

December 2000

Summary

A decade after the end of the Cold War, U.S.–Russian relations are less friendly and close than many Americans hoped they would become after the demise of Soviet communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union. Many areas of disagreement exist between the two countries—from U.S. plans for a national missile defense to Russian nuclear exports to Iran. Yet despite the tensions, the United States and Russia are on fundamentally different, and better, terms than the United States and the Soviet Union ever were. With the current leadership transition in the United States and the recent one in Russia, U.S.–Russian relations are moving into a new period. One cannot talk of a “clean slate,” as much of what has complicated relations in the recent past—from Russian misuse of International Monetary Fund (IMF) credits to NATO expansion—is still very much on people’s minds. But the leadership transition in both countries—coincident with the start of a new century—represents a potentially critical juncture in what is arguably still the most consequential bilateral relationship in international politics.

 

Table of Contents

The Chance for Renewal, Jessica T. Mathews

Executive Summary

1. A Critical Juncture

   Introduction

   The Russian Context and Perspective

   The Agenda for Renewal

2. Core Security Issues

   Nuclear Security, Nonproliferation, and Missile Defense

   NATO and Europe

3. Problems in the South

   The Myth of “the Great Game”

   Unpleasant Realities in Chechnya

4. Russia's Transformation

   Doing More on Democracy

   Updating the Economic Agenda

   Facing the Rule of Law

   Supporting Higher Education