is the sale of Russian nuclear reactors to Iran. The Islamic regime in Tehran has launched a bid to acquire nuclear weapons. It is buying two Russian-made nuclear reactors capable of producing plutonium that can be enriched to become weapons-grade raw material for atomic bombs. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself does not support this sale, believing it could endanger both Russian and Western security. Nevertheless, the sale goes on, primarily because of pressure from the powerful Russian Ministry of Atomic Industry (MinAtom) headed by Victor Mikhailov (Matlock, 1996).
Another important issue is aid to Russia and the NIS countries. Aid to Russia has attracted bipartisan support, but this may be weakening as Russia becomes more anti-Western and expansionist. The Bush and Clinton Administrations have provided over $4 billion in aid to Russia since 1992. Combined aid monies and loans to the former Soviet Union and Russia for 1985-1995 amounted to over $100 billion. The results of these aid programs have been mixed; critics
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