What America's Russia Policy Should Be

The United States has a limited number of important security interests that can be secured best through sustained cooperation with the governments of the former Soviet republics. Chief among these interests are: counter-terrorism, disposal of Soviet-built chemical and biological weapons, security of nuclear and radiological materials, arms control, nonproliferation, and the responsible withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan. Considering Russia’s political, economic, and military influence in the former Soviet Union, it would be extremely difficult for the U.S. to secure any of these interests without Russian cooperation and almost impossible if U.S.-Russian relations deteriorated the way they did in the aftermath of the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. To put it bluntly, it’s simply unrealistic for American policy to try to “roll back” Russian influence in the former Soviet Union.