CIAO DATE: 02/05/08
Foreign Affairs
Losing Russia: The Costs of Renewed Confrontation
Dimitri K. Simes
Abstract
Summary: U.S.-Russian relations are deteriorating rapidly. Misguided and arrogant U.S. policies since the end of the Cold War have fueled resentment in Russia, and Vladimir Putin's increasing defiance is inflaming the West. But Washington and Moscow need not be adversaries. Both sides must act soon to avert renewed confrontation.DIMITRI K. SIMES is President of the Nixon Center and Publisher of The National Interest.
Faced with threats from al Qaeda and Iran and increasing instability in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States does not need new enemies. Yet its relationship with Russia is worsening by the day. The rhetoric on both sides is heating up, security agreements are in jeopardy, and Washington and Moscow increasingly look at each other through the old Cold War prism....