Carnegie Moscow Center
While a Nobel Peace Prize seems the occasion to address an international audience, Obama must use this opportunity to speak to his domestic constituency on the three great present challenges to world peace: nuclear proliferation, climate change and the allure of radical Islam.
In his long-awaited address, President Obama presented a series of objectives but no clear strategy. His plan will likely leave Afghanistan looking worse than it does now.
The Obama administration must engage in a new type of dialogue with the Middle East, one modeled after the process used to improve relations with the Soviet bloc, if it wants to have any chance of impacting political reform in the region.
Despite the complexities involved, the new START treaty should be signed by spring 2010. The main stumbling block is that the United States prioritizes a regime of transparency, whereas Russia demands a reduction of strategic weapons.
President Obama’s trip to Asia will signal renewed U.S. commitment to this vitally important region. Perhaps the most important stop will be in China, where Obama will seek to ease lingering strategic distrust and discuss key issues of trade, climate change, and security.
U.S. plans to build a global missile defense system have caused consternation in Moscow, where a potential U.S. first-strike capability is still viewed as the most serious external military threat to Russia.
On the anniversary of President Obama’s election, relations with Russia have become a bright spot among the president’s ambitious foreign policy efforts, while other central international goals remain unachieved.
Recent efforts by both the United States and Russia to reset the bilateral relationship have yielded promising results and deeper cooperation on critical issues, including Iran, the post-Soviet states, and arms control and disarmament.
The West and Russia need to embark on a long and potentially rocky path toward creating a security community in Europe that would include both NATO members and nonmembers.
By embracing a soft power foreign policy fueled by a new focus on economic, intellectual and social renewal, Russia can emerge as a serious and indispensable global actor.