April 11, 2008 By Robert Amsterdam

Clinton and Obama Should Discuss Russia’s Political Prisoners

Next Wednesday, April 16, ABC’s Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos will moderate a debate between U.S. Democratic Presidential Candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The time will be short, the issues numerous, and the questions probing the candidates’ positions on foreign policy … likely only a handful. There is no disputing the urgency of other foreign policy issues, such as the war in Iraq, threats from Iran, stability in Afghanistan, or the China-Tibet issue, but a narrow focus on only these areas would be a mistake. We cannot afford to have the next president of the United States ill-prepared to deal with the ambitions of a resurgent Russia, strengthened by the state’s grip on oil and gas, nuclear armed, and rapidly slipping away toward authoritarianism while obstructing U.S. policy preferences across the globe.