CFR | Dec 2014

These four articles provide background and perspectives on the United States’ tense and complex relationship with Russia, especially in the context of Ukraine’s political crisis.

Many hoped that the end of the Cold War twenty-five years ago would herald a new era of cooperation between the United States and Russia. Instead, relations have grown severely strained. President Vladimir Putin, Russia’s preeminent leader since 2000, has repressed his opponents at home and used political pressure, economic coercion, and other means, including military, to exert influence abroad. Separatists armed and trained by Russia are pursuing a civil war in Ukraine. Putin also annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, an action inconsistent with the core principle that territory is not to be acquired by military force. Though a mostly one-dimensional economy heavily reliant on energy exports and demographically declining, Russia retains influence over issues important to the United States, such as Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, and the conflict in Syria. The question is how Washington can prevent its differences with Moscow from spoiling limited opportunities for cooperation—while upholding the security and integrity of Russia’s neighbors.

Issue Package Components

1. U.S.-Russia Ties Still Fall Short of ‘Reset’ Goal, New York Times, September 2, 2013
   Journalist Peter Baker reviews the recent history of the troubled U.S.-Russia relationship, including the Obama administration’s attempted “reset” and disagreements over Libya, Syria, and Russian governance.
2. To Settle the Ukraine Crisis, Start at the End, Washington Post, March 5, 2014
   Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger outlines four general principles for consideration when seeking to resolve the crisis in Ukraine.
3. Why the Ukraine Crisis is the West’s Fault, Foreign Affairs, September/October 2014
   John J. Mearsheimer, an elder statesman of realpolitik, argues that Russia’s actions in Ukraine, far from being aggressive, are a logical reaction to Western liberal overreach.
4. Faulty Powers: Who Started the Ukraine Crisis?, Foreign Affairs, November/December 2014
   Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul and CFR Senior Fellow Stephen Sestanovich offer a critique of Mearsheimer’s piece. Mearsheimer responds.