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Updated: March 2007
| Authors: | Jack Kemp, Former Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States Stephen Sestanovich, George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies |
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Since the end of the Cold War, successive American administrations have sought to create a relationship with Russia that they called a “partnership.” This report asserts that this is the right long-term goal, but it is unfortunately not a realistic prospect for U.S.-Russia relations over the next several years. This report is also available in Russian.
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Academic Modules—featuring teaching notes by the authors of CFR publications—are designed to assist educators in creating or supplementing a course syllabus. The modules are customized packages built around a primary CFR text, such as a book or report, and include teaching notes; additional readings; video, audio, and transcripts of CFR meetings; Foreign Affairs articles; and other online resources. Use of these modules is free of charge. They may be used in part or in their entirety.
March 2006
Task Force Report No. 57
This report asserts a U.S.-Russia “partnership” is the right long-term goal, but not a realistic prospect over the next few years. This report is also available in Russian.
By Stephen Sestanovich, George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies
This Task Force report is a very useful instrument for introducing or concluding a course. Not only does it outline several important trends in Russia’s internal and international developments, but its recommendations may serve as a starting point for discussion. After reading the report, students should be able to give an informed view on several of the most important topics in the U.S.-Russian relationship, as well as describe the periods of cooperation and tension in recent years. These notes offer some suggestions for using the task force report for the following types of courses:
COURSES ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Discussion Questions:
I. How would you characterize the change in U.S.-Russian relations after 9/11 to the present? What issues show the greatest disagreement between the United States and the Russian Federation?
II. The Task Force report describes three categories of issues, based on Russia and America’s interests. How do problems in the international sphere—Iran, non-proliferation, energy security, etc.—fit into these categories?
COURSES ON POLITICS IN RUSSIA AND EURASIA
Discussion Questions:
I. Describe the current developments in Russia’s domestic sphere. How have political and social trends changed?
II. What trends highlighted in the Task Force report pose a threat to democratization in neighboring countries, especially those in Russia’s “near abroad?”
III. How sustainable is Russia’s economic growth?
IV. How would you describe Russia’s foreign policy today? What are its main goals, and how does Moscow try to achieve these goals? What role does Russia’s economic revival have in its foreign policy?
Further Projects
1. Memorandum to the president.
Assign your students to write a memorandum to the president. Students may choose or be given an issue contained in the Task Force report. The memorandum should give an overview of the situation, lay out the pros and cons of each policy option, and recommend a course of action.
2. Op-eds
Assign your students to write an op-ed on Russia’s role in global warming. The standard to meet is importance of the topic, clarity in presenting a specific point of view, and brevity (650-750 words). Because the op-ed is short, it requires different writing skills from a conventional term paper—the point must be made within the first or second paragraph, the writing style is usually more argumentative than in term papers, and the writing must be simple even as the ideas advanced are sophisticated. These guidelines will help in focusing the argument—which is best done before writing—because most students choose arguments that are either too sprawling or esoteric for good op-eds.
3. Task Force consensus piece
In this project, students should form small groups to construct their own task forces. The groups, if the size of the class permits, should be significantly large enough so that the participants must deal with a wide range of views. The main task should be to write a short, 2 to 3 page consensus piece on an issue covered in Russia’s Wrong Direction, with additional room at the end for individuals’ dissenting views. This project should require several meetings outside of the classroom.
4. Rebuttal to Task Force Reports
Students should create a short rebuttal (4 to 6 pages) from the perspective of the Russian government on the main themes covered in Russia’s Wrong Direction. There have been several editorials and articles in the Russian and English language press that took issue with some or all of the task force’s findings; these are particularly useful for this assignment. In addition, students should be encouraged to examine the additional and dissenting views at the end of the task force. The basis for the rebuttal, however, should be actual documents or statements made by Russian officials in its defense against the typical accusations made against it by the international community.
February 14, 2007
Backgrounder: Lingering resentment over NATO's expansion has strained U.S.-Russia relations.
January 3, 2007
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November 1, 2006
The flow of Russian conventional weapons to Iran—notably sophisticated surface-to-air defense missiles—has increased markedly of late, complicating U.S.-led efforts to tamp Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
July 18, 2006
Chechen separatist Shamil Basayev is one of several rebel leaders to die violently in recent years. His death leaves the future of the movement in doubt.
April 5, 2006
Russia's vast supply of energy and China's insatiable demand are making the two countries natural partners. Their shared goal of checking U.S. regional influence has also drawn their foreign policies closer.
February 28, 2006
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October 2003
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May 2002
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May 2000
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May 11, 2006
Professor Desai considers questions such as why the Soviet Union fell apart under Gorbachev, what went wrong with economic reforms after Gorbachev, whether the privatization of Russian assets could have been managed differently, and what the prospects are for the Russian economy in the near future.
March 6, 2006
As Russia prepares to host the G-8 summit this summer, the Independent Task Force report takes stock of what is working–and what is not–in U.S.-Russian relations.
March 7, 2006
Watch the chairs and the director of the Council-sponsored Independent Task Force on Russia present the findings of their report and discuss what is working-and what is not-in U.S.-Russian relations.
March 7, 2006
Listen to the chairs and the director of the Council-sponsored Independent Task Force on Russia present the findings of their report and discuss what is working-and what is not-in U.S.-Russian relations.
October 4, 2006
Stephen Sestanovich, a Clinton administration expert on the former Soviet Union, says the crisis between Russia and Georgia plays to deep-seated fears in both countries and could build to the point where confrontations are not fully controlled.
August 28, 2006
George Perkovich, a leading expert on nuclear proliferation, says the Bush administration may have to drop its regime change strategy for Iran in order to get Russian support for UN sanctions on Tehran's nuclear program.
July 11, 2006
Andrei Babitsky of RFE/RL, one of the few journalists to have met and interviewed Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev, says his death may weaken the Chechen separatist movement, but will not kill it.
July 6, 2006
James M. Goldgeier, former director of Russian affairs in the National Security Council under President Clinton, says that as leading democracies head to the annual G8 meeting in St. Petersburg, the relationship between the United States and Russia "is as poor as it has been since the end of the Cold War."
February 2005
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November 2006
The Army's Strategic Studies Institute looks at the troubled state of the NATO-Russia partnership.
June 21, 2006
Steve Cohen blams the U.S., not Russia, for the poor state of bilateral relations. Cohen reviews U.S. foreign policy since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, looking at economics, public health, global governance, foreign policy, etc.
March 2006
Analysis of various schools of strategic thinking that exist in Russia today may help to explain some important components of the way in which Russia's foreign policy is shaped, and to clarify the current evolution of Russia's international behaviour.
December 31, 2005
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