The Dog Barks, but the Caravan Moves on: Highs and Lows in U.S.-Russian Relations

A new and fearsome era has dawned, and we at the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe felt it appropriate to mark the moment and begin a discussion examining where we've been in hopes that the past might offer insight into where we could be headed in our bilateral relations with the Russian Federation. Interest in Russia on Capitol Hill is at a post-Cold War high, but the knowledge base lags far behind what it once was and should be strengthened for a properly informed foreign policy. We begin with the assumption that the current state of the relationship is undesirable and that U.S.-Russian cooperation across a range of vital interests should continue. The question of how should the United States relate to Russia, I think, is on the minds of everyone here in the United States and also, the preoccupation of those in Russia itself. To begin answering that question, I'm reminded of a little Russian proverb that says, if you neglect history, you lose one eye. If you forget history, you lose two eyes. It seems to me that the last thing that the United States of America needs right now, the last thing that the Russian Federation needs right now, is to forget history.