In this week’s column for PBS Need to Know, ASP fellow Joshua Foust writes about the new opportunity to improve relations with Russia following the re-election of Vladimir Putin.

Russia’s recent ascent into the World Trade Organization presents one way for the U.S. to extend an olive branch and further repair bilateral relations by permanently normalizingtrade relations. But shifting to a less aggressive posture toward Russia is difficult for many American politicians who are angry that Russia doesn’t see everything the same way we do. Russia and the U.S. have a number of common interests both countries can and should be working toward, including Russia’s full inclusion in the world economy. It helps the U.S., it helps Russia — and it helps Putin.

Of course, doing so will require firm leadership from the White House. It is election season in the U.S., which means both parties will swerve into rhetorical excess to frame problems and criticize each other’s policies. Russia has done the same thing, and it’s likely that Putin’s worst statements about the West will turn out to be just like American electoral rhetoric: a bunch of hot air (this is something Steve Levine at Foreign Policy has also noted as a possibility). A firm commitment to furthering strong ties with Russia could defuse the worst of Putin’s rhetorical triangulation.

Russia’s election was a disappointment for many who want to see a free, thriving Russia. But it wasn’t a defeat for those forces, or even a setback.  Elections don’t always bring every change a country needs, and Russia’s opposition remains immature and ineffective at gaining huge numbers of votes. With time, some mentoring, and some de-escalation from the West, Russia can mature into the normal political system everyone seems to want. But it needs to be given a chance to do so.

 

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