US Foreign Policy and Russia

This research examines the traditional and new relationships the United States has forged with Russia, particularly since the end of the Cold War in 1991. Some attention will be given to the traditional Cold War relationship between the United States and Russia, but this study will emphasize the evolving relationship between the two countries in the last few years.

The Soviet Union officially collapsed in a virtually bloodless end on Christmas Day in 1991 as a result of an agreement reached by the troika of Slavic leaders: Leonid Kravchuk of the Ukraine; Stanislav Shushkevich of Belarus; and Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation. Surprisingly, the troika leadership acted quite independently of their respective legislatures and popular sentiment. A national referendum conducted about a year earlier at Gorbachev's bequest indicated that 80% of the public supported preservation of the Soviet Union, albeit in federalist form. The agreement, which established the Com

. . .
ver-personalized" perception of Soviet politics--a perception that carried over into American relations with Yeltsin's Russia. The Bush Administration failed to heed the advice of Henry Kissinger not to view Soviet politics as a monolithic process dominated by a single person (i.e. Gorbachev). Strong personal relationships may be useful in diplomatic negotiations, but they should not be mistaken as the essence of bilateral foreign relations. That personalization of the Soviet Union blinded American foreign policy toward the region and left the United States wholly unprepared to deal with a new Russia (Medish, 1994, pp. 64-66). American strategists quickly attempted to reformulate U.S. foreign policy toward the newly emerging states of the former Soviet Union. The United States adopted a set of broad criteria that would guide any decisions to recognize and cooperate with successor states, including Russia. These were: (1) explicit acceptance of the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act, including respect for human rights and the equal treatment of minorities; (2) respect for existing borders, internal and external, with changes made only by peaceful consensual means consistent with principles established by the Conference of Secur
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Soviet Union, Overall Clinton's, Cold War, United G7, Boris Yeltsin, Russia United, Reform Plan, Europe CSCE, Clinton Administration, Gorbachev American, soviet union, boris yeltsin, american foreign, former soviet, cold war, bilateral relations, foreign relations, american foreign relations, relations russia, foreign policy, russian development, former soviet union, support russian development, bilateral relations russia, foreign relations region,
Approximate Word count = 1785
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)

More Essays on US Foreign Policy and Russia