Task Force Prescribes Steps to Strengthen U.S. Policy on Russia

How will Vladimir Putin’s return to the Kremlin impact American national interests? Should the U.S. allow Georgia to block Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization? How can the U.S. engage  Russia to reach further cuts in nuclear arsenals and reduce the global threat of nuclear terrorism?

These thorny policy questions and others are tackled in a new report by the Task Force on Russia and U.S. National Interests, a group of business leaders and former military officers, senior government officials, and diplomats.

The task force report assesses Russia from the perspective of American national interests and offers prescriptions for coherent, realistic management of the U.S.-Russia relationship as the two nations approach the 20th anniversary of the Soviet Union collapse on Dec. 25, 1991.

The study also makes the case that Russia remains one of a handful of countries in the world that deeply affect American economic and security interests, demanding constant U.S. attention. While recognizing that the Obama administration’s reset policy has led to significant improvements in U.S.-Russia relations, the report warns that relations remain fragile— and that an undertow of mutual distrust is more at fault than specific disputes.

The task force was co-chaired by Belfer Center Director Graham Allison and Robert D. Blackwill, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The project director was Dimitri K. Simes, president of the Center for the National Interest. The Center Executive Director Paul J. Saunders served as editor for the report.