Dear CCI Friends and Colleagues,
We are pleased to share with you an article written by Edward Lozansky, president of American University in Moscow, which traces the history of the US-Russia relationship by way of his personal experience: born in Kiev, educated in the USSR, a citizen of the US. Mr. Lozansky traces the history of US-Russia relations while the USSR was still intact, after the dissolution of the USSR, the initial period of euphoria between the US and USSR, the adversarial position that many appointees in the Clinton administration took towards Russia, and the results that followed.
The article is an important historical overview by someone who was on the ground when the crucial events shaping US-Russia relations of the last 50 years were happening. We recommend his perspective to your attention as he analyzes the tragic role that US policymakers took soon after the Russian Federation became an independent nation when the cold war ended in 1991. It also traces the events leading up to the current crisis in Ukraine, a tragedy that has befallen both Ukrainian and Russian citizens.
We look forward to your comments.
Center for Citizen Initiatives
Clearing the Fog of “Unprovoked” War
August 9, 2023
By Edward Lozansky
For the record: I was born in Ukraine, studied in Russia, and worked in America as a laser fusion researcher and Professor of Mathematics and Physics. I have relatives and friends in all three countries, and for the last 35 years, I have been trying to do my best to make them friends, partners, or even allies. Instead, all three are now at war, even if some call the U.S. war only a war “by proxy.”
This looks like a total failure of my efforts, but I hope this short summary clears a bit the fog of war, which might help in the search for avoiding a worst-case scenario.
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