Thursday
Jul022009
Former Defense Secretary Optimistic That U.S.-Russia Summit Will Produce Renewed Ties
Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 2:32PM
By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service
As the U.S-Russia summit from July 6th-8th nears, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, who spoke at the Center for American Progress Thursday, delivered an optimistic message on the chances of cooperation between the two nations based on goals that both share.
“The distrust is long, it’s deep, but in my opinion it’s not irresponsible... [President Obama] has to decide what the nature of our relationship is going to be with Russia. He has to identify 5 or 6 areas of potential cooperation,” said Cohen.
Russian political experts and Washington think-tanks alike believe the upcoming summit could produce a renewal in Russo-American ties.
Cohen and Dr. Samuel Charap, a Fellow at the Center for American Progress, identified six points of common interest between the U.S. and Russia: Arms control and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, stability and security for the former Soviet region, the fight against violent extremism, the introduction of Russia to Western organizations such as the WTO, energy conservation, and the health and wellness of the two populations.
On the scheduled expiration of START, ratified by Russia and the United States in 1991 to achieve a dramatic reduction in strategic forces, Cohen said “If President Obama and his counterparts are dedicated to doing that [complete the renewal of START by the end of the year], it’s achievable.”
Cohen reiterated the importance of Russia’s role in foreign affairs, indicating that “the non proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: we both have interests in that; curbing Iranian and North Korean nuclear ambitions. Frankly I don’t really think we will be able to solve Iran’s ambitions for nuclear weapons capability without the help of Russia. Russia will have far more leverage than we will. The question is are they going to be wiling to exercise that leverage in their dealings with Iran. They have serious commercial interests in Iran...”
Charap agreed with Cohen that the U.S. should include Russia in international organizations.
“The administration's policies should be guided by the long term goal of integrating Russia into western and other international institutions. integration in these structures, rather than isolation from them is in the U.S national interest because they require greater accountability,” said Charap.
In addition to national security issues, Cohen also discussed economic benefits of renewed ties between the two nations.
“[Russians] need to have Western investment and it has not exactly been a hospitable environment for Western investment. There are serious questions remaining concerning the rule of law... and safe investment,” said Cohen, adding that “The U.S should encourage the development of a democratic Russia that observes the universal values of human rights, political pluralism and the rule of law” in order to encourage foreign direct investment.
As the U.S-Russia summit from July 6th-8th nears, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, who spoke at the Center for American Progress Thursday, delivered an optimistic message on the chances of cooperation between the two nations based on goals that both share.
“The distrust is long, it’s deep, but in my opinion it’s not irresponsible... [President Obama] has to decide what the nature of our relationship is going to be with Russia. He has to identify 5 or 6 areas of potential cooperation,” said Cohen.
Russian political experts and Washington think-tanks alike believe the upcoming summit could produce a renewal in Russo-American ties.
Cohen and Dr. Samuel Charap, a Fellow at the Center for American Progress, identified six points of common interest between the U.S. and Russia: Arms control and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, stability and security for the former Soviet region, the fight against violent extremism, the introduction of Russia to Western organizations such as the WTO, energy conservation, and the health and wellness of the two populations.
On the scheduled expiration of START, ratified by Russia and the United States in 1991 to achieve a dramatic reduction in strategic forces, Cohen said “If President Obama and his counterparts are dedicated to doing that [complete the renewal of START by the end of the year], it’s achievable.”
Cohen reiterated the importance of Russia’s role in foreign affairs, indicating that “the non proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: we both have interests in that; curbing Iranian and North Korean nuclear ambitions. Frankly I don’t really think we will be able to solve Iran’s ambitions for nuclear weapons capability without the help of Russia. Russia will have far more leverage than we will. The question is are they going to be wiling to exercise that leverage in their dealings with Iran. They have serious commercial interests in Iran...”
Charap agreed with Cohen that the U.S. should include Russia in international organizations.
“The administration's policies should be guided by the long term goal of integrating Russia into western and other international institutions. integration in these structures, rather than isolation from them is in the U.S national interest because they require greater accountability,” said Charap.
In addition to national security issues, Cohen also discussed economic benefits of renewed ties between the two nations.
“[Russians] need to have Western investment and it has not exactly been a hospitable environment for Western investment. There are serious questions remaining concerning the rule of law... and safe investment,” said Cohen, adding that “The U.S should encourage the development of a democratic Russia that observes the universal values of human rights, political pluralism and the rule of law” in order to encourage foreign direct investment.
Republican Leadership Protests New Missile Defense Strategy
A number of high ranking Congressional Republicans Thursday protested President Barack Obama’s recent decision to scrap an Eastern European based missile defense system.
Ranking Member of the House Committee on Armed Services Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.), House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Michael Turner and House Chairman Michael Pence (R-Ind.) all delivered statements.
“We’re seeing this administration’s real national security policy emerge,” McKeon said. “The administration is capitulating to Russia’s demands, rewarding Russia for its divisive policies and actions.”
The plan eliminates former President George W. Bush’s planned missile defense system, which would have deployed either a radar system in the Czech Republic or 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland in order to deter long range and short range missiles. Instead, the Obama administration will use a system aimed more toward intercepting shorter-range missiles from Iran, which Defense Secretary Robert Gates believes pose a more immediate threat.
“The sudden turnaround, the sudden release of new intelligence information - that has not come the way of the Hill - is puzzling, to say the least,” Cantor said. “We await the answers associated with that turnaround from our administration.”
Cantor also said that he hoped Vice President Joe Biden was “misquoted” when he said he was much less concerned about Iran because Iran does not have the potential capacity to launch a missile at the United States.
“To me, implicit in [Biden’s] statement is that we should not naturally concern ourselves with the threat to our allies in Europe, to our allies in the Middle East such as Israel,” Cantor said.
Acording to Michael Turner, the Obama administration has cut missile defense funding by $1.2 billion. He also said that the plan will not provide the United States with long range missile defense until 2020, while the former plan would have considered long range missile defense as early as 2013.
“They’re retreating from the deployment of a missile defense shield in Europe,” he said.
“The Obama administration is continuing a policy of appeasement at the expense of our allies,” Pence said. “History teaches that weakness and appeasement invite aggression against peaceful nations.”