Military Review English Edition January-February 2015 | Page 114

In yet another parallel interest, the United
States and Russia have a mutual interest in stemming nuclear proliferation in the Islamic world.
The immediate prospect of an Iran armed with
nuclear weapons, especially, would pose a threat
to both Russia as well as U.S. allies throughout the
region.
Finally, among many other issues of common
concern, Russia and the United States share a
common potential threat from a rising and increasingly aggressive China, which in terms of
sheer population outnumbers the combined population of Russia and the United States together by
a factor of three to one.
These examples illustrate that the United
States and Russia have a vital interest in jointly
cooperating to overcome challenges that threaten common interests. Moreover, the frank truth
of the matter is that without Russia’s participation and cooperation, as has been demonstrated
repeatedly both with the case of Iran and Syria,
U.S. attempts to secure its objectives in the regions without Russian cooperation are impossible.
Therefore, a rapprochement between the two
countries is necessary so that the two can move
forward on such important issues of collective
concern together to ensure a more stable world,
which is fundamental to the true national interests of both.
However, unfortunately, instead of reconciliation, since the end of the Cold War, U.S. foreign
policy toward Russia seemingly has been built
around a military policy of encirclement and
containment as evidenced by NATO expansion.73
As Charles A. Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University pointed
out, since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the
United States and its NATO allies have constructed a post-Cold War order that effectively shut
Russia out.74 Diplomatic isolation of Russia by the
United States has only increased the Kremlin’s
sense of embattlement and given credence to the
sentiments of the ultranationalists seeking armed
expansion of Russian territory.
Thus, treating Russia as an international pariah
has proven to be a terrible policy mistake on a
number of levels. Further isolation of Moscow,
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such as ousting Russia from the Group of Eight
(G8) industrialized democracies, would only
embolden Putin to forge cooperative relationships
with almost every nation or aspiring nationalist
group that regards the United States as an enemy, including closer ties with a rogue’s gallery of
regimes such as Syria, Venezuela, and Iran.75
Instead, to ensure pan-European as well as
global stability, efforts must be made to integrate
Russia into the Atlantic alliance. 76 As the noted
defense analyst Thomas P.M. Barnett once noted,
renewing the Cold War with Russia would “simply
play into the hands of al-Qaida by dividing the
Core against itself.” 77

Conclusion: Cultivating Russia as
an Ally
As a matter of realpolitik, the current anti-Russian orientation of the U.S. government is
shortsighted. In fact, greater collaboration between the two countries could go a long way in
solving some of the most critical security challenges the United States will face this century. With
the persistent threat of militant Islam and the
growing economic and military power of China, a
strong Russia is essential to the long-term national
security of the United States and the West.
For example, the U.S. military is overstretched
and cannot afford a ruinous competition with
the Russian military despite the latter’s diminished status since the end of the Cold War. Also,
in an increasingly tight fiscal environment, there
are only so many tasks that the U.S. military can
undertake. Thus, U.S. foreign policy must be
bounded, missions prioritized, and partners such
as Russia sought.
For Russia’s part, the United States and the
West are crucial for its modernization as well as
a hedge against what may develop to Russia’s east
and south in the coming decades.78
Thus, it would be in the long-term best interests of both countries to resist a resumption of
the Cold War, reconcile differences, make great \