March 27, 2009 By Robert Amsterdam

What Obama Should Do About Russia

Washington DC think tank Heritage Foundation has released a new report today containing “realistic policy proposals” for the administration of Barack Obama to address relations with Russia and strategy in Eurasia.  The report is edited by Ariel Cohen, and features chapters contributed by authors such as Janusz Bugajski, Svante Cornell, Stephen Blank, and Marshall Goldman.  Recommended reading – I hope to post some of my own comments this weekend.  Below is the conclusion from the executive summary:

The Obama Administration is trying to push the “reset” button on U.S. relations with Moscow. Yet in foreign affairs, haste is the enemy of wisdom.

According to The New York Times, in February 2009, President Obama sent a secret, hand-delivered letter to President Dmitry Medvedev. The letter reportedly suggested that, if Russia cooperated with the United States in pre­venting Iran from developing long-range nuclear-missile capabilities, the need for a new missile defense system in Europe would be eliminated–a quid pro quo that President Obama has denied. The letter proposed a “united front” to achieve this goal.[2]