DOCSLIB.ORG

Russia: Rebuilding the Iron Curtain

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Russia: Rebuilding the Iron Curtain RUSSIA: REBUILDING THE IRON CURTAIN HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MAY 17, 2007 Serial No. 110–65 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 35–430PDF WASHINGTON : 2007 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 21 2002 10:09 Jul 13, 2007 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\FULL\051707\35430.000 DOUG PsN: DOUG COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS TOM LANTOS, California, Chairman HOWARD L. BERMAN, California ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American DAN BURTON, Indiana Samoa ELTON GALLEGLY, California DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey DANA ROHRABACHER, California BRAD SHERMAN, California DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois ROBERT WEXLER, Florida EDWARD R. ROYCE, California ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York STEVE CHABOT, Ohio BILL DELAHUNT, Massachusetts THOMAS G. TANCREDO, Colorado GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York RON PAUL, Texas DIANE E. WATSON, California JEFF FLAKE, Arizona ADAM SMITH, Washington JO ANN DAVIS, Virginia RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri MIKE PENCE, Indiana JOHN S. TANNER, Tennessee JOE WILSON, South Carolina GENE GREEN, Texas JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California J. GRESHAM BARRETT, South Carolina SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas CONNIE MACK, Florida RUBE´ N HINOJOSA, Texas JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska JOSEPH CROWLEY, New York MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas DAVID WU, Oregon TED POE, Texas BRAD MILLER, North Carolina BOB INGLIS, South Carolina LINDA T. SA´ NCHEZ, California LUIS G. FORTUN˜ O, Puerto Rico DAVID SCOTT, Georgia GUS BILIRAKIS, Florida JIM COSTA, California ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona RON KLEIN, Florida ROBERT R. KING, Staff Director YLEEM POBLETE, Republican Staff Director (II) VerDate Mar 21 2002 10:09 Jul 13, 2007 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\FULL\051707\35430.000 DOUG PsN: DOUG C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES Stephen Sestanovich, Ph.D., George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Council on Foreign Relations ....................................... 5 Michael McFaul, Ph.D., Professor, Stanford University ...................................... 10 Mr. David Satter, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute .............................................. 24 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING Stephen Sestanovich, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ................................................ 7 Michael McFaul, Ph.D.: Prepared statement ........................................................ 12 Mr. David Satter: Prepared statement .................................................................. 27 APPENDIX The Honorable Sheila Jackson Lee, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas: Prepared statement ................................................................... 49 The Honorable Donald A. Manzullo, a Representative in Congress from the State of Illinois: Prepared statement ................................................................. 50 (III) VerDate Mar 21 2002 10:09 Jul 13, 2007 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\FULL\051707\35430.000 DOUG PsN: DOUG VerDate Mar 21 2002 10:09 Jul 13, 2007 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\FULL\051707\35430.000 DOUG PsN: DOUG RUSSIA: REBUILDING THE IRON CURTAIN THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2007 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 1 o’clock p.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Tom Lantos (chairman of the committee) presiding. Chairman LANTOS. The committee will come to order. I extend my very sincere apologies to our three distinguished witnesses, but Congress works in strange and inexplicable ways. This morning we had an example of it. There are few areas where historical memory and historical am- nesia are as often encountered as in the field of Russian studies. I would like to spend a moment on historical memory. I vividly recall the end of the Second World War and the heroism of the Russian people and the Russian military suffering enormous casualties liberating Europe from Nazi occupation. This historical memory makes me conclude that the removal of the statue to the Russian military in Tallinn, Estonia, was a profound mistake be- cause that statue commemorates the heroic sacrifice of the people of Russia and many other republics over a period of many years. What followed of course was a period of Soviet suppression, bru- tality, mass murder, and that is properly to be denounced, but I think it is important in dealing with this unbelievably important and growingly critical issue of United States-Russian relations to keep both our memory and our amnesia very clearly in mind. I left my native country of Hungary because of Soviet occupation, and later I became one of the leading anti-Soviet voices in Congress because of what the Soviet Union did to all those it controlled, and that was an abomination. I was guided by a special interest as I watched and often dealt with a Russia that transformed from Stalinism all the way to a budding democracy. It is a disappointment to me and to all who ad- mire Russia that the transformation didn’t quite take. Three weeks ago, when Boris Yeltsin died, most reviews and obituaries dismissed him and his leadership as a bold but bungled, promising but dashed experiment. In my view, Yeltsin still holds a message for all of us, for Russia and for his hand-picked suc- cessor, Mr. Putin. Yeltsin, whose father was a Gulag prisoner and whose grandfather’s land was seized. Yeltsin, who attempted to transform Russian politics and society in one sweeping gesture. It is true that the economy was paltry under Yeltsin and corrup- tion was rampant and the oligarchs became powerful, but inde- (1) VerDate Mar 21 2002 10:09 Jul 13, 2007 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\FULL\051707\35430.000 DOUG PsN: DOUG 2 pendent publications thrived. The media were free. People began to express opinions openly and without hesitation. The grip of centralized planning loosened to reveal the poten- tiality of a bountiful market economy. It was a moment of democ- racy, hope and progress, but, as it turned out, it was just a fleeting moment. I do not think that Vladimir Putin is a reincarnation of Josef Stalin, but I am profoundly disturbed by his pattern of abuse and repression of dissidents, independent journalists and in fact anyone who opposes him. Russia’s tactics under the KGB colonel now in charge of the Kremlin threatens to send the country back to its au- thoritarian past. Yesterday afternoon I received a call from the Secretary of State from her airplane shortly after she left the airport in Moscow. She was not very optimistic. As we begin to learn more about Secretary Rice’s visit to Moscow these past few days, we have very little rea- son for optimism. Some want to see to it that the rhetoric is toned down. I am all in favor of toning down the rhetoric. Reasonable diplomacy is al- ways welcome, but even if we choose our words carefully we must steadfastly stand by our principles. The United States must continue to raise issues of grave impor- tance and concern to us, to the Russian people and to the entire region. There are areas where we need Moscow’s cooperation, par- ticularly in keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of Iran and North Korea and terrorists, but we must be at least as honest with Putin as he has been about his views of United States policy in re- cent weeks and months. He must understand that freedom of the media is not just a bourgeois, middle-class preoccupation. Independent media and a ro- bust public debate, particularly in a place like Russia, holds the government to account and sharpens the tools of democracy. Last fall, when my friend Anna Politkovskaya, a leading voice of media opposition to Russia’s murderous war against Chechnya and a champion of human rights, was mercilessly gunned down in the lobby of her apartment building, she became part of the rule rather than the exception. No fewer than 13 journalists critical of Putin have died under mysterious circumstances since he took office and not one of these mysteries has been solved. Litvinenko, a British subject who was poisoned in London, is still a mystery, but we all have our sus- picions. Putin completely controls TV and radio and is gaining a similar stranglehold on virtually all print media. He has been singularly unforgiving and punitive vis-a`-vis anyone who threatens his hold on the economy, especially since rising oil prices have propelled Russia’s GDP to new heights. The former CEO of oil company Yukos, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, sits in a Siberian prison on phony charges while Yukos itself is dis- membered and its parts are absorbed into a state-controlled oil company. Just last week, the media reported that the final vestiges of Yukos—its headquarters—was being auctioned off at a bargain- basement price. As a friend of Russia and of the Russian people, I urge Mr. Putin to rethink his skewed vision of crime and punish- ment before he completely stifles freedom in Russia. VerDate Mar 21 2002 10:09 Jul 13, 2007 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\FULL\051707\35430.000 DOUG PsN: DOUG 3 Now that its enormous energy wealth has given it newfound clout in foreign affairs, Russia is throwing its weight around in the region, cutting off natural gas supplies in the dead of winter to some former Soviet republics and to western European countries.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Russia's Many Foreign Policies
    Russia’s Many Foreign Policies MICHAEL MCFAUL hat are Russian foreign policy objectives? It depends on whom you ask. W In making assessments of Russia’s behavior in the world, it is absolutely critical that we recognize that Russia today is not a totalitarian state ruled by a Communist Party with a single and clearly articulated foreign policy of expand- ing world socialism and destroying world capitalism and democracy. That state disappeared in 1991. Rather, Russia is a democratizing state—a weakly institu- tionalized democracy with several deficiencies, but a democratizing state nonetheless. Russia’s foreign policy, in turn, is a product of domestic politics in a pluralistic system. In democracies, “states” do not have foreign policy objectives. Rather, indi- vidual political leaders, parties, and interest groups have foreign policy objec- tives. Under certain conditions, these various forces come together to support a united purpose in foreign affairs. At other times, these disparate groups can have conflicting views about foreign policy objectives. They can even support the same foreign policy objective for different reasons.1 Russia today is no different. Although Russian leaders share in supporting a few common, general foreign policy objectives, they disagree on many others. They also disagree on the means that should be deployed to achieve the same for- eign policy objective. The foreign policy that eventually results is a product of debate, political struggle, electoral politics, and lobbying by key interest groups. Because Russia is undergoing revolutionary change internally, the foreign policy that results from Russian domestic politics can change quickly. This article makes the case for the centrality of domestic politics in the artic- ulation and implementation of Russian foreign policy.
    [Show full text]
  • Post-Soviet States: People, Power, and Assets Oral History Archive
    Post-Soviet States: People, Power, and Assets Oral History Archive Interviewee: Mark O. Henry Interviewer: Rebecca Adeline Johnston Date: December 9, 2019 Location: Woburn, MA Abstract Mark O. Henry is co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of Boston-based Bach Pharma. An accountant by training, he has worked as a CPA for Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., a vice president at State Street Bank in Boston, and in numerous business ventures. Much of his career in the pharmaceutical industry has been aimed at establishing a market in the United States for Russian therapeutics. Most prominent in his work is a monosodium luminol product marketed as Galavit in Russia and as GVT in the United States. In this interview, Mr. Henry discusses his experiences working with the Russian and American medical communities beginning in the late 1990s and which remain ongoing. This transcript is lightly edited for clarity. Audio for this interview is not available. Redacted portions are marked as such. Interviewer questions and remarks are presented in bold. Interview Transcript I wanted to start with asking a bit about yourself—where you're from, some of the highlights of your very varied and rich career in accounting and business, up to the point where you started working in Russia. I graduated with a bachelor of science degree in accounting, became a CPA for KPMG. One of my first assignments that I ever had was in South America, specifically in Columbia, South America. I was helping United Fruit Company at the time sell bananas to Russia, which was prohibited from the United States because of the 1947 ban on trade with Russia that the Congress of the United States had passed.
    [Show full text]
  • Michael Mcfaul
    Michael McFaul Director, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies and Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, the Freeman Spogli Institute and the Woods Institute Political Science Curriculum Vitae available Online Bio BIO Michael McFaul is Director at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies in the Department of Political Science, and the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He joined the Stanford faculty in 1995. Dr. McFaul also is as an International Affairs Analyst for NBC News and a columnist for The Washington Post. He served for five years in the Obama administration, first as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council at the White House (2009-2012), and then as U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2012-2014). He has authored several books, most recently the New York Times bestseller From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia. Earlier books include Advancing Democracy Abroad: Why We Should, How We Can; Transitions To Democracy: A Comparative Perspective (eds. with Kathryn Stoner); Power and Purpose: American Policy toward Russia after the Cold War (with James Goldgeier); and Russia’s Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin. His current research interests include American foreign policy, great power relations, and the relationship between democracy and development. Dr. McFaul was born and raised in Montana. He received his B.A. in International Relations and Slavic Languages and his M.A.
    [Show full text]
  • S:\FULLCO~1\HEARIN~1\Committee Print 2018\Henry\Jan. 9 Report
    Embargoed for Media Publication / Coverage until 6:00AM EST Wednesday, January 10. 1 115TH CONGRESS " ! S. PRT. 2d Session COMMITTEE PRINT 115–21 PUTIN’S ASYMMETRIC ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY IN RUSSIA AND EUROPE: IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY A MINORITY STAFF REPORT PREPARED FOR THE USE OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JANUARY 10, 2018 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations Available via World Wide Web: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/index.html U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 28–110 PDF WASHINGTON : 2018 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:06 Jan 09, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5012 Sfmt 5012 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\COMMITTEE PRINT 2018\HENRY\JAN. 9 REPORT FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER seneagle Embargoed for Media Publication / Coverage until 6:00AM EST Wednesday, January 10. COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS BOB CORKER, Tennessee, Chairman JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland MARCO RUBIO, Florida ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire JEFF FLAKE, Arizona CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware CORY GARDNER, Colorado TOM UDALL, New Mexico TODD YOUNG, Indiana CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming TIM KAINE, Virginia JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts ROB PORTMAN, Ohio JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon RAND PAUL, Kentucky CORY A. BOOKER, New Jersey TODD WOMACK, Staff Director JESSICA LEWIS, Democratic Staff Director JOHN DUTTON, Chief Clerk (II) VerDate Mar 15 2010 04:06 Jan 09, 2018 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\COMMITTEE PRINT 2018\HENRY\JAN.
    [Show full text]
  • Russia's Looming Crisis
    FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Russia’s Looming Crisis By David Satter Russia’s Looming Crisis By David Satter March 2012 About FPRI - - - Founded in 1955 by Ambassador Robert Strausz Hupé, FPRI is a non partisan,- non profit organization devoted to bringing the insights of scholarship to bear on the development of policies that advance U.S. national interests. In the tradition of Strausz Hupé, FPRI embraces history and geography to illuminate foreign policy challenges facing the United States. In 1990, FPRI established the Wachman Center to foster civic and international literacy in the community and in the classroom. FOREIGN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE 19102-3684 Tel. 215-732- -732-4401 1528 Walnut Street, Suite 610 • Philadelphia, PA 3774 • Fax 215 Email [email protected] • Website: www.fpri.org Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 1. The Political Situation ........................................................................................................ 3 The Control of the Election Process ............................................................................................ 4 The Economic Key to Putin’s Political Success ....................................................................... 5 A Political Charade ............................................................................................................................ 6 An Election Fraud .............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Launching a New Institution: PACIFIC COUNCIL on INTERNATIONAL POLICY
    Launching A New Institution: PACIFIC COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONAL POLICY 1995-1996 Launching a New Institution: The Pacific Council on International Policy 1995-1996 Established in cooperation with the Council on Foreign Relations, Inc. To the Members of the Pacific Council 1 on International Policy Launching a New Institution 2 Programs and Meetings 15 Visiting Scholars and Fellows Program 24 Board of Directors 25 Corporate sponsors 26 Individual Contributions 27 General and Program Support 29 Membership Policy 30 Membership Roster 31 Staff 36 Pacific Council on International Policy University of Southern California Los Angeles, California 90089-0035 (phone) 213-740-4296 (fax) 213-740-9498 (e-mail) [email protected] To the members of the Pacific Council on International Policy n two years, the Pacific Council on International Policy has moved from a compelling vision to a vigorous and extraordinarily promising organization. We have made rapid progress in Iestablishing a leadership forum which will attract the participation of thoughtful and concerned leaders from throughout the western region of North America and around the entire Pacific Rim. The Pacific Council’s founding and charter members believe that there is a clear and urgent need for an international policy organization rooted in the strengths of the western United States — its leaders, resources and diversity — but which will consistently and creatively look outward to the kinds of relationships that should be developed with our neighbors to the west in the Asia Pacific region and south in Latin America. It is essential to bring together a broad based group of leaders from around the Pacific Rim to consider the challenges that face us all and to make recommendations for policies that would contribute to growth and stability.
    [Show full text]
  • Rhodes Scholar Magazine
    EDITION 2 • 2015 Democracy and the City How where we live can foster innovation Rhodes House Tel: +44 (0)1865 270905 facebook.com/RhodesTrust South Parks Road Email: [email protected] @rhodes_trust An insight into... Oxford OX1 3RG Web: rhodeshouse.ox.ac.uk Voices from the LGBTQ Rhodes community United Kingdom Rhodes Scholarships Global Community RhodesTrust Unexpected Oxford 21st century leadership How the city of dreaming spires can continue to surprise Admire Kamudzengerere (Zimbabwe), My Other Mask, Lithograph 6 Democracy and the City Looking at urban spaces in new ways 9 Guns and What? African Contemporary Art on the Rise An evocative look at new African Art 12 Oxford Remembered: Duet amongst the Dreaming Spires 14 Rhodes Retreat The new Service & Leadership Programme at Rhodes House 16 A Cane Do Attitude SmartCane technology innovations 9 Editorial information 18 Insight into... the Rhodes LGBTQ community Artistry in Africa The Rhodes Magazine is published annually in print format by the Rhodes Trust in Oxford and supplemented each year by two electronic 22 Oxford News updates. News from the University of Oxford and The Mandela Rhodes Editor: Babette Tegldal, Communications Manager Foundation Tel: +44 (0)1865 270905 Email: [email protected] 24 Unexpected Oxford Design: Jamjar Creative Cover image: By current Scholar Vinesh Rajpaul How Oxford manages to surprise, inspire and confuse (South African College School, Newlands & Merton 2013); his work can be viewed at vineshrajpaul.com. He and his fiancée (also an 26 Rhodes Scholars in Research award-winning photographer and Oxford student) have been documenting life in and around the University, with a view to publishing 28 Try, Try, Try Again a collection of their photographic work.
    [Show full text]
  • Nostalgia for the Soviet Past in the Post-Soviet Countries
    1 Nostalgia for the Soviet Past in the Post-Soviet Countries By Tatsiana Amosava Introduction Maurice Halbwachs made collective memory an object of sociological research (1992). For the last half of a century it has become a prolific field of study with collective trauma as a principal concern. However, another modality of the collective memory has attracted a lot of researchers’ attention: nostalgia which eliminates any pain related to the past and presents it in harmonious, non-shady version. Initially introduced in the end of the 17th century as a form of psychological disorder (as a disease) found in Swiss mercenaries who carried their services abroad, nostalgia was perceived differently by the representatives of different epochs. It became a fashion in the 19th century, and even now it is closely associated with fashion. Nowadays nostalgia is seen as a psychological mecanism of maintaining the identity continuity (Fred Davis) and a mechanism which helps sustaining the wholeness of personality. Nostalgia relates to life cycles. There are identifiable groups of population who are inclined to nostalgia. There are certain age groups: people in their late twenties are nostalgic of their late teen years, and the group of middle-aged people who are around their forty (till recently it 2 was possible to argue that it is an empty nest phase in the life cycle of women). Also, very old persons show the acute signs of longing for the past. In addition, there is a gender distinction: it is more typical of men to experience nostalgia than of women. Fred Davis (1979) believes that it is a result of more complicated life trajectories in men who worked in different places, served in the army, migrated more actively than women, while the surroundings of women were rather stable, non-changeable, and women’s identities did not require a lot of adaptation to new circumstances.
    [Show full text]
  • L:\Hearings 2018\09-06 Zzdistill\32635.Txt
    S. HRG. 115–376 OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVES ON RUSSIA SANCTIONS: CURRENT EFFECTIVENESS AND POTENTIAL FOR NEXT STEPS HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ON EXAMINING THE IMPLEMENTATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SANCTIONS PROGRAM CURRENTLY IN PLACE AGAINST RUSSIA AND THE EFFECTS OF THOSE SANCTIONS SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 Printed for the use of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs ( Available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 32–635 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019 COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS MIKE CRAPO, Idaho, Chairman RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama SHERROD BROWN, Ohio BOB CORKER, Tennessee JACK REED, Rhode Island PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey DEAN HELLER, Nevada JON TESTER, Montana TIM SCOTT, South Carolina MARK R. WARNER, Virginia BEN SASSE, Nebraska ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts TOM COTTON, Arkansas HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota MIKE ROUNDS, South Dakota JOE DONNELLY, Indiana DAVID PERDUE, Georgia BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii THOM TILLIS, North Carolina CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, Maryland JOHN KENNEDY, Louisiana CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada JERRY MORAN, Kansas DOUG JONES, Alabama GREGG RICHARD, Staff Director MARK POWDEN, Democratic Staff Director JOHN O’HARA, Chief Counsel for National Security Policy KRISTINE JOHNSON, Economist ELISHA TUKU, Democratic Chief Counsel LAURA SWANSON, Democratic Deputy Staff Director COLIN MCGINNIS, Democratic Policy Director DAWN RATLIFF, Chief Clerk CAMERON
    [Show full text]
  • The Ambassadorial Series a Collection of Transcripts from the Interviews
    The Ambassadorial Series A Collection of Transcripts from the Interviews COMPILED AND EDITED BY THE MONTEREY INITIATIVE IN RUSSIAN STUDIES MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES MAY 10, 2021 ii Introduction At a time when dialogue between American and Russian diplomats is reduced to a bare minimum and when empathy and civility fall short of diplomacy between major powers, we are pleased to introduce the Ambassadorial Series. It is a compilation of conversations with eight outstanding American diplomats who served at various points of time as U.S. ambassadors to the Soviet Union and, after its dissolution, to the Russian Federation. The Series provides nuanced analyses of crucial aspects of the U.S.-Russia relationship, such as the transition from the Soviet Union to contemporary Russia and the evolution of Putin’s presidency. It does so through the personal reflections of the ambassadors. As Ambassador Alexander Vershbow observes, “[t]he Ambassadorial Series is a reminder that U.S. relations with Putin's Russia began on a hopeful note, before falling victim to the values gap.” At its heart, this project is conceived as a service to scholars and students of American diplomacy vis-à-vis Russia. The interviews, collected here as transcripts, form a unique resource for those who want to better understand the evolving relationship between the two countries. We would like to express gratitude to our colleagues who collaborated on this project and to the Monterey Initiative in Russian Studies staff members who supported it. Jill Dougherty is the face and voice of this project – bringing expertise, professionalism, and experience to the Series.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report
    COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS ANNUAL REPORT July 1,1998 - June 30,1999 Main Office Washington Office The Harold Pratt House 1779 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. 58 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10021 Washington, DC 20036 Tel. (212) 434-9400; Fax (212) 861-•1789 TTele . (202) 518-3400; Fax (202) 986-2984 Website www.cfr.org E-mail communications@cfr. org Officers and Directors, 1999–2000 Officers Directors Term Expiring 2004 Peter G. Peterson Term Expiring 2000 John Deutch Chairman of the Board Jessica P.Einhorn Carla A. Hills Maurice R. Greenberg Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Robert D. Hormats* Vice Chairman Maurice R. Greenberg William J. McDonough* Leslie H. Gelb Theodore C. Sorensen President George J. Mitchell George Soros* Michael P.Peters Warren B. Rudman Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Term Expiring 2001 Leslie H. Gelb Officer, and National Director ex officio Lee Cullum Paula J. Dobriansky Vice President, Washington Program Mario L. Baeza Honorary Officers David Kellogg Thomas R. Donahue and Directors Emeriti Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Richard C. Holbrooke Douglas Dillon and Publisher Peter G. Peterson† Caryl P.Haskins Lawrence J. Korb Robert B. Zoellick Charles McC. Mathias Jr. Vice President, Studies David Rockefeller Term Expiring 2002 Elise Carlson Lewis Honorary Chairman Vice President, Membership Paul A. Allaire and Fellowship Affairs Robert A. Scalapino Roone Arledge Abraham F. Lowenthal Cyrus R.Vance John E. Bryson Vice President Glenn E. Watts Kenneth W. Dam Anne R. Luzzatto Vice President, Meetings Frank Savage Janice L. Murray Laura D’Andrea Tyson Vice President and Treasurer Term Expiring 2003 Judith Gustafson Secretary Peggy Dulany Martin S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Curse of Russian "Exceptionalism"
    October 2013 THE CURSE OF RUSSIAN “EXCEPTIONALISM” By David Satter David Satter is an FPRI senior fellow and is also affiliated with the Hudson Institute and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His latest book, It Was a Long Time Ago and It Never Happened Anyway: Russia and the Communist Past, is out in paperback from Yale. In his recent op-ed in The New York Times, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s objected to the idea of American “exceptionalism.” This is ironic because the nation whose state tradition is based on a claim to exceptionalism is not the U.S. but Russia. In his speech calling for a military strike against Syria, President Obama said that America was exceptional because it is not indifferent to human suffering. This is quite different from making a claim to inherent superiority. Under both tsars and communists, however, Russia insisted that it had a right to remake the world because of the monopoly on truth contained in its ruling doctrine. In the post-communist era, Russia no longer has an ideology. But it glorifies its past and frequently acts as if the rights of others do not exist. The key to Russia’s sense of exceptionalism is a belief in the quasi-divine status of the Russian state. It is this notion that is responsible for the absence of the rule of law in Russia and the low value that is attached to human life. The deification of the state in Russia has deep roots. The dominant religion in Russia is Orthodox Christianity.
    [Show full text]