Russia : Friend or Foe…Which Direction?

Susan Eisenhower, speaking to about 500 people on April 8, observed that, while there are many issues where the U. S. and Russia have legitimate differences, it would be hard to imagine any  challenges ahead  that would not be better served by the cooperation of the two countries.

President of the Eisenhower Group and founder of the think tank named for her grandfather Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Eisenhower Institute, Ms. Eisenhower’s unique perspective has been informed by more than twenty-five years in the foreign affairs field, 110 trips to Moscow, and a front row seat as the curtain rose on a new Russia from the beginning of the Gorbachev era, through Yeltsin and Putin, and the election of Medvedev as the new Russian president.

Ms. Eisenhower asserts that the U.S. has not taken a strategic approach to Russia and that we are finding it difficult to adjust to the fact that Russia has financial stability and resources at its disposal. She sees Russia as chafing under a relationship that is predicated on outdated circumstances. She makes the point that Russia has been treated quite differently from other emerging economies and democracies.   Russia has never been formally invited to apply for membership in NATO, a matter which fuels distrust in Russia . Furthermore a number of key bi-lateral trade impediments have survived from the Soviet era. Russia today is the largest economy still outside of the WTO.

While discussing foreign affairs around the dinner table, Ms. Eisenhower was expected as a young person to analyze a situation in a way that included an assessment of the other person’s point of view before arguing one’s own position. She believes that Russia does not want confrontation with the west and that we are missing a major opportunity. Mutually beneficial economic interaction, collaboration on international security issues, and energy cooperation are areas of potential engagement.

-Barbara Harrell

Council Member

World Affairs Council of Jacksonville

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