US Russia cooperation and arms reduction
The last two years of the Bush Administration saw the coldest relationship between Russia and America since the Cold War itself. This was especially true in August of 2008, when America’s unstable ally, Mikheil Saakashvili, started a military offensive against South Ossetia to quell a border problem. The NATO-US sponsorship of this unstable tyrannt helped spoil the relationship (LOL…it was also the European Union’s finest hour in diplomatic relations and conflict resolution). The tendancy in with Republican and right-wing governance is to maintain Russia as an adversity and rival, including militarily. Over the past-decade, especially after September 11 attacks – there have been numerous occasions where America and Russia could have had a good and productive relationship.This is a much needed policy for President Obama to work to bring about a more productive relationship with Russia. There is simply no reason under the sun to want to maintain a rival and sometimes hostile relationship with Russia. (The notion of “rivalry” is part of the dominant balance-of-power framework that American policy often works under.) It is right to remove missile defense shield out of Eastern Europe — but this missile defense shield should have been removed and not reintroduced again!Common interests should be found between the two countries. Both the US and Russia have a common interest in counter terrorism, WMDs, and the final resolution of Afghanistan. There is also the need to confront Iran and get a good working relationship in the Middle East peace Quartet, which both Russia and the US (along with the EU and UN) are a part of.This new START agreement is said to be a new effort at bilateral cooperation. It is also said that the new spirit of cooperation created by the presence of a more cooperative American administration can carry over toward even lower limits than the 1550 warheads in this treaty. There are NO lines and this new treaty is not intended to produce winners and losers.President Obama made the reduction of nuclear weapons a priority of his presidency. Along with that there is a much needed cooperation with Russia on keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists and belligerent nations – like Iran. We should agree that Iran with the bomb is a common threat that could bring an arms race to the Middle East and cause highly flammable-instability to increase.American-Russian cooperation should be a powerful force for peace, starting with arms reduction, but also confronting Iran. We should resist those that want to return to the Cold War rivalry, which is useless and counterproductive in this age of new threats, such as terrorism. There is the predictable right-wing forces would like to continue treating Russia as a rival – and like many other issues – they are alone in their out-dated ideas and notions.
