Russia
French Elections, European Politics, American Leadership
May 7, 2012
European publics spoke angrily, if not clearly, this weekend: evicting incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy from the French presidency, mounting large protests around Vladimir Putin’s return to the Russian presidency, defeating a Merkel ally in local German politics and splintering from mainstream parties to radical groups on the left and right in Greece. The resulting uncertainty demands [...]
Let’s Get Geopolitical
March 27, 2012
For decades conservatives dominated the national security debate in U.S. politics. That era is over. Poll after poll shows public support for President Obama’s handling of national security – and public desire for pragmatic national security policies that use all sources of national power and build our economic, diplomatic and moral as well as military [...]
After Putin’s Tears: Russia’s Elections in Context
March 6, 2012
This weekend, as forecast, Vladimir Putin won an election that will return him to the Russian presidency. Putin appears to have both won a strong majority and engaged in electoral irregularities. The Obama administration joined observers in calling for investigation – even as Mitt Romney accused it of failing to do exactly that. Rhetoric aside, [...]
After Russia’s Elections
December 8, 2011
U.S.-Russia relations have reached a tight spot on several central issues: discord over plans for European missile defense, disappointment with Russia’s flawed elections, disagreement on how to end the regime crackdown in Syria and pressure Iran on its nuclear program. Led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the administration has taken strong stances on the elections and missile defense, while continuing partnership in other vital areas, including U.S. overflight rights to Afghanistan and New START treaty implementation. The ability to “walk and chew gum at the same time” – to stand strong on issues of principle, maintain communication and make pragmatic progress elsewhere – shows the success of the “reset” policy. In fact, the reset’s critics are now getting what they said they wanted on missile defense and human rights – while in Afghanistan our military gets what it needs.
Good Cop, Bad Cop, Consistent US Interests
September 26, 2011
This weekend Russian Prime Minister and former President Vladimir Putin announced that he will once again seek the presidency, essentially guaranteeing him the position. He pledged, once president, to appoint the current president Dmitri Medvedev as prime minister. This is disappointing for Russian democracy but not unexpected, and should not necessarily entail a downturn in U.S.-Russian relations.
Liberal Apathy, the National Security Story
August 3, 2010
By Heather Hurlburt, The New Republic, August 3rd 2010
A 21st Century U.S.-Russian Relationship
July 12, 2010
U.S.-Russian relations will always be complex, at any given time demanding both collaboration on shared priorities and firm stands where our security interests and values diverge. The ‘reset’ back to a stabilized diplomatic partnership allows the U.S. to seize opportunities to advance its interests – as the recent arrest of Russian spies in the U.S. and the subsequent “spy-swap” demonstrates. Since taking office, Obama has worked to improve the relationship and utilized that improvement to advance U.S. interests, obtaining concrete progress on important issues ranging from Iran to Eastern Europe to Afghanistan. The foundation of the relationship has been the new START accord that increases U.S. and global security by securing nuclear stockpiles and building a stable and transparent nuclear relationship between the world’s two largest nuclear powers. All of this occurs in parallel with the realities of espionage and competition – and is a reminder of why the U.S. needs to use diplomacy to stay in the game, not remain on the sidelines. This is the type of relationship that best serves America’s interests.
The Cold War is Over: Ratify New START
June 25, 2010
The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty facilitates reductions in the strategic nuclear arsenals of the world’s two largest nuclear powers and has earned overwhelming support from the military, national security experts and, just yesterday, thirty bipartisan national security leaders including Colin Powell. These same experts have also warned that a rejection of this treaty would put our national security at risk. Failure to ratify the agreement would, in the words of George H.W. Bush’s National Security Advisor General Brent Scowcroft, throw our efforts to control nuclear threats into a “state of chaos.”
Heather Hurlburt Quoted in The Washington Times on Obama Visiting Russia
June 23, 2010
Heather Hurlburt, executive director of the National Security Network, said, “The major success here 18 months in is that the relaitonship is back to a place where you can have a productive back-and-forth exchange, as opposed to where it was at the end of 2008, when basic diplomacy was not really possible.”
As START Set to Expire, Conservatives Reverse Selves on Key Provisions
December 4, 2009
Tomorrow, December 5, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) is set to expire. START, the largest arms control agreement in history, was spearheaded by Ronald Reagan and signed by George H.W. Bush in 1991 after a decade of negotiations. The agreement was key to reducing Cold War nuclear tensions and set the precedent for intrusive inspection and verification measures that give each side confidence about the other’s arsenal – and which for that reason the US intelligence community highly values. A START follow-on that maintains such monitoring while further reducing arsenals is critical to U.S. national security. A new treaty enjoys tremendous bipartisan support, led by the “four horsemen” former Secretaries of State Kissinger and Shultz, former Secretary of Defense Perry and former Senator Nunn. A Council on Foreign Relations task force chaired by Perry and former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft also recommended a follow-on agreement.
