Paula Dobriansky

on relations between the U.S. and Russia

Vice Chair of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council; former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Senior Fellow

The greatest challenge for Russia-U.S. relations will continue to be Moscow’s strongly held goal of diminishing U.S. power and influence worldwide and fragmenting American alliances and partnerships. Russia will keep targeting U.S. assets and interests abroad and domestically, through disinformation and targeted hacking, and will seek to disrupt and cripple American cyber-security in such key areas as energy. Moscow will also sustain its utilization of proxies to bolster their anti-U.S. efforts in all regions of the world. And Russia’s closer alignment with China is largely fueled by anti-American imperatives. The fact that Moscow has been willing to abandon its traditional suspicion of Beijing has underscored the extent to which hostility towards the United States is the most important organizing principal driving Russian foreign policy.

Despite these challenges, one area of diplomatic opportunity might be the New START talks, which could provide a framework for including, in some way, Chinese nuclear forces. One way to proceed is to portray the inclusion of Chinese nuclear forces into the U.S.-Russia framework as an acknowledgment of Beijing’s great power status.

What advice do you have for the next generation of diplomatic practitioners?

Master your craft, learn history, and strive to help protect America’s national security interests. Good, effective diplomacy starts with such a strong foundation.