U.S. ambassador to Russia urges international cooperation

U.S. ambassador to Russia urges international cooperation

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News Staff

While acknowledging profound differences between the two nations, the U.S. ambassador to Russia told an audience at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy that he remained an optimist about U.S.-Russian relations.

WILLIAM BURNS

William Burns called for “making our relationship a genuine, mutually respectful, two-way street” at his Sept. 27 lecture, “200 Years of U.S.-Russian Relations and the Road Ahead.”

Burns noted that the United States and Russia established diplomatic ties 200 years ago and for most of that time maintained warm relations. It wasn’t until the Cold War that the U.S. and the Soviet Union parted ways. With the demise of the U.S.S.R., the two ceased to view each other as enemies though there are current strains, he said.

He cited U.S. concerns about the “overcentralization of power” by the Kremlin and the Russian view that the U.S. is “too quick to lecture” and “prone to double standards.”

“This is a moment of considerable frustration and doubt between Russia and the United States,” Burns said. “You can hear it and feel it every day in both of our capitals.”

The current situation, Burns said, should cause both sides “to step back and look soberly at where we’re headed and what’s at stake.” Each nation matters to the other in important ways, he said.

“The Russia I see today is going in a lot of different directions — some troubling, some very promising and many, much too early to tell,” said Burns.

On the positive side, Burns mentioned a dramatic economic revival that has made the Russian economy the ninth largest in the world — ahead of both India and Brazil. That has been accompanied by the growth of a middle class, which could lead to the consolidation of democratic norms. But Burns also pointed to widespread corruption and other shortcomings that undermine the rule of law.

There will inevitably be differences over security issues, Burns said, citing Kosovo, missile defense and the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe. He also discussed divisions over how to address Iran’s nuclear program.

As an example of the two powers working together to solve international disputes, Burns highlighted Russian-U.S. cooperation in the so-called Middle East Quartet aimed at promoting an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

“Partnership on certain key, strategic issues is not only possible,” Burns said, “but deeply in both of our interests.”