Events
How to engage Russia: A German-American conversation March 10, 2009 / Washington, DC
On March 10, the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) hosted a panel discussion on "How to engage Russia: A German-American conversation," featuring , member of the German Parliament and spokesman on foreign affairs of the Social Democratic Party-Group; and , George F. Kennan senior fellow for Russian and Eurasian studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Karen Donfried, GMF's executive vice president, moderated the panel.
The discussion focused on the current state of play in Russia and the implications for transatlantic relations in the wake of a new U.S. administration. At the recent 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy, Vice President Biden said that there has been a "dangerous drift in relations" between Russia and the member states of NATO, and that "it's time to press the reset button and to revisit the many areas where we can and should be working together with Russia."
It was suggested that while Russia is better now than it was before 1989, the problem with Russia is not its strength, but its weakness. The European Union (EU) is the natural partner to engage with Russia and should be a bold actor when it comes to Russia - but noted that the new U.S. administration should give the first opening to Russia.
Americans tend to doubt that the EU will be a bold actor toward Russia, and a U.S.-German dialogue is also necessary. More important is coming to a consensus on how to engage with Russia. The experts and policymakers over the last 20 years have always been wrong about Russia in the same way: they have assumed that whatever they see in a given moment would continue.
The forces of dynamism in Russia are greater than we think, and one suggested that there is room for accomplishment with Russia. The discussion brought to bear how important the EU-US relationship is when it comes to engaging Russia.



