Center for Citizen Initiatives

Bringing Russian and American citizens together in Peace since 1983.

Bridging Divides of a New Cold War

Friends, our current Russia trip is now on its third day. So far our trip schedule hasn’t left much time for writing an update. We’ll get you more information about what’s been happening during the trip soon. Meanwhile, the article that follows was just written by one of our group’s travelers.

Sharon

Consortium News

Bridging Divides of a New Cold War

Ann Wright

As NATO steps up military maneuvers near Russia’s borders and congressmen fume about “Russian aggression,” a delegation of Americans including former U.S. officials is looking for face-to-face ways to encourage peace, writes Ann Wright.

By Ann Wright

I just flew across 11 times zones — from Tokyo, Japan to Moscow, Russia. Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area, nearly twice as large as the United States and has extensive mineral and energy resources, the largest reserves in the world. Russia has the world’s ninth largest population with over 146.6 million people. The population of the U.S of 321.4 million is more than twice as large as Russia’s.

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On ‘Russian Assertiveness’ in Foreign Policy

VLADIMIR BROVKIN(ACEWA)
June 13, 2016

Political Scientists like to explain reality in terms of familiar mental constructs, such as search for legitimacy, priority of domestic policy, newly found military strength, etc. And so what we have in these articles is a standard traditional application of those to contemporary Russian foreign policy. What is wrong with this is that it misses the emotional side of things, the gut feeling, the sense of pride and national injury.

Most Russians today, as demonstrated by numerous public opinion polls, believe that the West has encroached on their traditional territory and in the case of Ukraine that the West usurped what many believe is a part of the nation, one nation.

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Latest Trip to Russia: During a Challenging Time

Hi Friends,

trip map
(Click map to see larger version)

Within the week we leave for Russia during an extremely dangerous time. Some 31,000 armed NATO troops have stationed themselves in the Baltic countries and are doing unprecedented “war maneuvers” in preparation for a supposed Russian takeover of these three tiny states. Gigantic warships have been moved into position around Russia’s periphery, enormous amounts of military hardware stand ready for use. (BTW, there is not a shred of evidence that Russia has any intention to take a centimeter of the Baltic countries’ space.)

To understand the seriousness of it all, listen to the June 8 podcast of The John Batchelor Show’s interview with Professor Steve Cohen, America’s undisputed historian and expert on all aspects of US-USSR/Russia relations.

Cohen and other U.S. experts in the field are deeply alarmed that this NATO show of force could be the prelude to World War III, by accident or by intention.

VV Putin has made it clear that Russia will never start a war, that Russia’s military is purely defensive; but if missiles or boots land on Russian soil, Russia will “respond nuclear.” This week he stated that if there is any war-making on Russian territory, the countries which have allowed NATO missile installations on their territories will be in the “crosshairs,” thus alerting these countries they will be the first to be destroyed. Further, Putin warned NATO that Russia’s targets will include North America.

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Why the standoff between the U.S. and Russia is here to stay

The analysis below was written by Dmitri Trenin, a seasoned expert in the field of US-Russia relations. Trenin is quite measured, has been in the field for decades and can be counted on for long-term analysis that is on target. His assessment amid the flurry of immediate news breaking out from multiple corners, is worthy of heeding.

Trenin makes it abundantly clear that this fierce and unpredictable battle going on between current U.S. leaders and Russia’s leadership is a “fight-to-death for dominance” in the new World Order of the 21st century. I’m bolding and underlining parts of it to emphasize his key points.

The question is,“Can we citizens chart courses of action that can effectively deal with ‘what is.'”  “What is” became clear to me after studying “The Wolfowitz Doctrine” in 2010.  At that time no one in my circles or reading material was even mentioning that the Doctrine existed. And quite honestly once I read it and understood what it meant to the short–term history in which I had been involved, I was afraid to discuss it in public. But Trenin is very clear about it in the article below, whether or not he mentions it by name.

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Lessons for Peace from Back in the USSR

David Swanson’s Blog

 

In the early 1980s almost nobody from the United States traveled to the Soviet Union or vice versa. The Soviets wouldn’t let anybody out, and good Americans were disinclined to visit the Evil Empire. But a woman in California named Sharon Tennison took the threat of nuclear war with the seriousness it deserved and still deserves. She got a group of friends together and asked the Russian consulate for permission to visit Russia, make friends, and learn.

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