Dear CCI Followers,
There is little to rejoice over regarding the latest moves from the Biden administration. However, it is getting “kick back” from some important places, such as this article below from The Hill.
The Hill in 2019 was ranked second among all U.S. news sites for political readership, second to CNN, and ahead of Capitol Hill competitors such as Politico.
As of 2020, the newspaper claims to have more than 22,000 print readers. The Hill is distributed for free in newspaper boxes around the U.S. Capitol building, and mailed directly to all congressional offices.
Back when I was calling on members in the 90’s and 2000’s, there always was a current issue of The Hill prominently placed in their Congressional waiting rooms.
Please read this piece on understanding or misunderstanding Russia printed a few days ago.
Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives
How to think about Russia
March 4, 2021
By Joshua Huminski
With the new sanctions on Russia in response to the Solar Winds hack and the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, plus the announcement on additional military aid to Ukraine, it appears that the administration of Joe Biden is starting to use elements of a policy toward Russia. While the full makeup of this policy remains unclear, it is critical to understand the power and interests of Moscow which remain over the years.
If the administration is to craft a wise and more strategic policy toward Russia, it must view the position and behavior of the country as it is, and not assume it is born out of any structural decline or some other flawed premise. To understand Russia does not mean to accept it, but rather to view it as it is rather than as Washington would wish it to be.
At its core, Russia is not a soft power playing its hand well, as it is often described. Its tactics and actions are not born out of any weakness, but rather out of a raw calculus of its abilities, its interests, and its resources, which any smart country or regime does. Indeed, if we assess Moscow by Washington standards for power, that will lead to poor decisions and risk miscalculations. If we blithely ignore the domestic and global interests of Russia, we will be outplayed and outmaneuvered at all turns.