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May 31, 2005
Council on Foreign Relations
Former Congressman and Housing and
Urban Development Secretary and vice
presidential candidate Jack Kemp, and
former Senator and vice presidential
candidate John Edwards at the first meeting
of the Council-sponsored Independent
Task Force on Russian-American Relations,
May 31, 2005.
May 31, 2005 — The Council launched an Independent Task Force today to review current U.S. policy toward Russia and make recommendations on future policy—from global security to Russia’s evolution as a democratic state. The Task Force is chaired by former Senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards and former Congressman and Housing and Urban Development Secretary and vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp. Council Senior Fellow Stephen Sestanovich, former ambassador-at-large and special adviser to the secretary of state for the new independent states, directs the Task Force.
“More than a decade and a half after the fall of the Berlin Wall, U.S.-Russian relations continue to follow a pattern in which high hopes for cooperation alternate with disappointment,” said Edwards. “Our effort will examine this critical but challenging relationship and suggest a strategy for dealing with our differences and making the most of opportunities to work together.”
The Task Force will focus on seven main areas: co-operating against terrorism, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, strategic energy partnerships, (de-)democratization, Russia’s relations with its neighbors, Cold War legacy issues, and Chechnya.
“With both President Putin and President Bush now in a second term, prospects for U.S.-Russian cooperation could be strengthened, even on issues where Russian and American interests might not coincide,” said Kemp. “Our goal will be to make recommendations in areas where they can make a useful contribution to the public debate.”
The Council-sponsored Independent
Task Force on Russian-American Relations.
The bipartisan Task Force is comprised of a diverse group of leading policy practitioners, scholars, and figures from the private sector. (See list below.) Release of the report is planned for the fall of 2005.
Founded in 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations is an independent national membership organization and a nonpartisan center for scholars dedicated to producing and disseminating ideas so that members, students, interested citizens, and government officials in the United States and other countries can better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other governments.
TASK FORCE MEMBERS:
Stephen E. Biegun Coit D. Blacker Robert D. Blackwill Antonina W. Bouis Mark F. Brzezinski Richard R. Burt Lorne W. Craner Robert J. Einhorn John L. Gaddis John A. Gordon James A. Harmon Steven E. Hellman Fiona Hill | George Joulwan Clifford A. Kupchan Jessica T. Mathews Michael A. McFaul Mark C. Medish David R. Slade Walter B. Slocombe Strobe Talbott Judyth L. Twigg Margaret D. Williams Daniel H. Yergin Dov S. Zakheim |
Contact: Lisa Shields, Vice President, Communications +1-212-434-9888 or lshields@cfr.org
CFR maintains archives of multimedia from its on-the-record meetings. Full-length videos, as well as brief highlight videos of select meetings, audio recordings, and unedited transcripts can be accessed at the following links:
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