Resetting the Reset Button: Realism about Russia

摘要

In Washington, there is a widely shared view that the United States needs Russian cooperation to stop Iranian and North Korean nuclear proliferation, particularly Iran's. This view rests on the premise that the United States should take Russia 'seriously,' and taking Russia seriously means accepting Russian demands for no missile defense in Europe and no NATO enlargement or further European integration of the countries of the former Soviet Union. In other words, the price of such cooperation means leaving Europe vulnerable to Russian military threats, such as those leveled against Poland in 2008 in response to the potential deployment of a U.S. missile defense system on Polish soil, and to energy blackmail and attempts at political subversion. Furthermore, acceptance of Moscow's demands allows Russia to exercise an exclusive sphere of influence in the States of the former Soviet Union. It is obvious that this price would be both a moral and a strategic disaster.