NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
At its Warsaw summit, NATO should try to find better solutions to the problem of burden-sharing and a more sustainable strategy for managing tensions with Russia, writes CFR’s Stephen Sestanovich.
About the Expert
Expert Bio
Stephen Sestanovich is the George F. Kennan senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis professor of international diplomacy at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He is the author of Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama, published by Knopf in February 2014.
From 1997 to 2001, Sestanovich was the U.S. State Department's ambassador-at-large for the former Soviet Union. He has also served as vice president for Russian and Eurasian affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, director of Soviet and East European studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, senior director for policy development at the National Security Council, a member of the State Department’s policy planning staff, and legislative assistant to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Ambassador Sestanovich received his BA summa cum laude from Cornell University and his PhD from Harvard University. He comments frequently on international issues for radio and television, and has written for Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, American Interest, New Republic, Politico Magazine, National Interest, and other publications. He is a member of the board of directors of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Affiliations:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, Kathryn & Shelby Cullom Davis professor of international diplomacy
Featured
Is President Vladimir Putin on a roll or on the ropes? A case can be made for both, and upcoming parliamentary elections might yield some surprises, writes CFR’s Stephen Sestanovich.
Current Projects
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President Putin’s sweeping moves to shift government power reinforce his own claim to leadership beyond 2024, but also set in motion competition for influence throughout Russia.
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U.S. military and economic support for Ukraine has so far weathered the widening impeachment inquiry into President Trump’s contacts with Kyiv. This backing could strengthen Ukraine in the next round of diplomacy with Russia.
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Ukraine’s presidential campaign—the first since the upheavals of 2014—is drawing to a close, and the most improbable of candidates has taken the lead. Could he really become the country’s next president?
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A move to block sanctions relief has been defeated, averting a likely spike in global aluminum prices but also spotlighting the tough road ahead for Congress in shaping policy on Russia.
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The United States and Russia are at odds on so many issues that the upcoming summit could convince their two presidents to give up on better relations and accept estrangement.
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Even calculating for the rising threat from China, leaving the INF puts the United States in a worse strategic position than if it were to stay in.
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Presidents Trump and Putin have little to show for their rapport so far. Their summit will not be seen as a success without fresh approaches to issues from arms control to election tampering.
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If the President wants to use an arms build-up to advance arms control, he should take his cues from the Reagan record.
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Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and Disarmament
The 1986 meeting in Iceland between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was like none other. It offers helpful context for a potential U.S.-North Korea arms control summit. -
The expulsion of Russian diplomats by more than twenty governments is a remarkable show of unity and a deepening of Moscow’s rift with the West.
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