Washington DC think tank Heritage Foundation has released a new report today containing "realistic policy proposals" for the administration of Barack Obama to address relations with Russia and strategy in Eurasia. The report is edited by Ariel Cohen, and features chapters contributed by authors such as Janusz Bugajski, Svante Cornell, Stephen Blank, and Marshall Goldman. Recommended reading - I hope to post some of my own comments this weekend. Below is the conclusion from the executive summary:The Obama Administration is trying to push the "reset" button on U.S. relations with Moscow. Yet in foreign affairs, haste is the enemy of wisdom.
According to The New York Times, in February 2009, President Obama sent a secret, hand-delivered letter to President Dmitry Medvedev. The letter reportedly suggested that, if Russia cooperated with the United States in preventing Iran from developing long-range nuclear-missile capabilities, the need for a new missile defense system in Europe would be eliminated--a quid pro quo that President Obama has denied. The letter proposed a "united front" to achieve this goal.[2]
Responding to the letter, Medvedev appeared to reject the offer and stated that the Kremlin was "working very closely with our U.S. colleagues on the issue of Iran's nuclear program," but not in the context of the new missile defense system in Europe. He stated that "no one links these issues to any exchange, especially on the Iran issue." Nevertheless, Medvedev welcomed the overture as a positive signal from the Obama Administration.[3] So far, Moscow is refusing to play ball--or is at least taking a hardball approach to negotiations.
As this report illustrates, Russia poses multiple challenges to the U.S. The Kremlin is calling for a new European security architecture and for replacing the post-Bretton Woods economic architecture. It rejects the dominant role of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and is calling for their replacement by regional institutions. It is also seeking to use energy, weapons sales, and investment opportunities in the Russian market as tools to drive wedges between European capitals and between Europe and the United States.
Russian President Medvedev put this practice into stark relief when, the day after the U.S. presidential elections, he directly challenged President-elect Obama by threatening to deploy nuclear-capable missiles on the border of a prominent NATO ally. Such threats underscore the importance of designing a comprehensive U.S. foreign policy toward Russia.
The purpose of this project is to offer perspectives on the current challenges and to inform that policymaking process.
This report is a dubtious melting of die-hard neocon bellicose policy and more liberal approach like the " linkage policy " and its " if-then " in the middle-east chapter .
I'm pleassed to see that Heritage 's " Europe lovers " advise Europeans to built even coal generating plants to escape " Russian blackmail " on the energy issue .
I see that the greatest threat for the Us is a Russo-Chinese alliance in the frame of the SCO and they are highly inventive to prevent a such so-called " threat ."
Pepe Escobar has just published a good piece on that subject " Liquid war : Welcome to pipelineistan " .
I'm also plesaed to see that promoving democracy in Russia is just a " byproduct" for the Heritage experts .
This report should also be read by Canadians , Greenlanders , Danes , Norwegians , Scandinavians and Europeans who will " defend Us interests " in the arctic .
That reminds me the old motto " Give your blood , we'll give the money ".
But today Us asks blood AND money from their allies .
Thank God for Ariel Cohen and others who have stood up against the shameless appeasement efforts of the disgraced slimeball Gary Hart and the skeevy Chuck Hagel!
Ariel has testified before the Senate about his wonderful proposals:
http://larussophobe.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/cohen-testifies-before-the-senate/
which we've highly praised on my blog
http://larussophobe.wordpress.com/2009/03/16/editorial-listening-to-ariel-cohen/
and on Pajamas Media
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/its-the-russians-stupid/
FYI, Ariel blogs in Russian:
http://ariel-cohen.livejournal.com/
Phoby, Phoby, Phoby.
ROTFL @ Cohen and the rest of that freakshow @ Heritage!
It's a real "Blast from the Past", back to a Russia policy so memorably characterized by Bill Clinton as "Okay Boris, here's what you've got to do next. Here's some more sh*t for your face."
There's no reason in the world for Dimitri and Vladimir to accept those terms.