Dear  CCI Friends,

America’s Ambassador to Russia is leaving his post. His outgoing message questions America’s foreign policy toward Russia. This comes as a spate of American and European VIP’s have begun speaking out about the U.S.’s demonization of Putin and Russia, and our refusal to use diplomacy and negotiation. At the same time, the U.S. is resorting to sanctions that not only don’t work, but have made Russia more resilient and have taken a toll on our European allies (and their relationships with us). This has strained the relationship between the U.S. and the EU. Thankfully Ambassador Huntsman wasted no time letting his points of view be known.

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CCI Friends,

Another article we need to attend to. The odds are heating up! We need to ask ourselves … are we planning to vote just to get Trump out of office? Will that backfire on us?

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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The Nation

Unasked Questions about US-Ukrainian Relations

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Dear CCI Followers,

Former St. Petersburg U.S. Consul General John Evans (and former Ambassador to Armenia), has written the most insightful assessment of Vladimir Putin in print to date.

Let’s hope that John Evans’ going public will encourage others in VIP positions to share their experiences to offset the demonizing of Russia and Putin that has occurred in both political parties over the past decade.

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Will Russia Be Driven from the West?

American opponents of readmitting Moscow to the former G8 fail to understand the consequences.

The Nation
By Stephen F. Cohen
September 18, 2019
(Underlines by ST)

(Audio from the John Batchelor show 1 of 2 is available here.  Audio from the John Batchelor show 2 of 2 is available here.)

Two years ago, I asked, “Will Russia Leave the West?”  The world’s largest territorial country—sprawling from its major European city St. Petersburg to its vast Far Eastern territories and long border with China—Russia cannot, of course, depart the West geographically. But it can do so politically, economically, and strategically. Indeed, where Russia belongs, where it should seek its identity, security, and future—in the East or in the West—has divided the nation’s policymakers and intellectual elites for centuries.

In our times, as I also pointed out two years ago, a Russia departed, or driven, from the West would likely mean “a Russia—with its vast territories, immense natural resources, world-class sciences, formidable military and nuclear power, and UN Security Council veto—allied solidly with all the other emerging powers that are not part the US-NATO Western ‘world order’ and even opposed to it. And, of course, it would drive Russia increasingly afar from the West’s liberalizing influences, back toward its more authoritarian traditions.

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Natylie’s Place
September 3, 2019
By Natalie S. Baldwin

Oksana Boyko Interviews Prof. Mark Galeotti on Worlds Apart

A few years ago, when I would occasionally read Mark Galeotti’s commentary and analysis of Russia, I’d often disagree with his take, preferring professors Richard Sakwa and Dominic Lieven as the best British experts on Russia. However, Galeotti actually gives a more nuanced and interesting analysis during this interview with Russian journalist Oksana Boyko on Worlds Apart. A lot of what makes this an interesting discussion is Boyko’s pushback on some of the assumptions that Galeotti rolls out about Russia and Putin, which forces Galeotti to backtrack on some of the things he starts to say that, in my opinion, reflect lazy and stereotypical thinking. I think Galeotti knows better, but he’s so used to providing the group think assessment of Russia that the Anglo-American establishment demands that it’s a conditioned response.

Having a more reasonable sounding view of Russia suddenly seems to be gaining popularity. After last week’s G7 meeting – the mutual admiration society of the western liberal democracies – French president Macron made comments acknowledging that western hegemony in its recent iteration since the end of the Cold War is declining. He also acknowledged that western nations needed to change their current attitude toward Russia or risk dangerous and unnecessary strategic errors that are not in the west’s long-term interests, like a Russian partnership with China. Macron also wants to position France as a key arbiter of relations within Europe, filling the void that will be left by Britain’s exit from the EU and Merkel’s declining influence on behalf of Germany.

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