Russia-United States relations
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
 |
Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (April 2007) |
- This page deals with the relations between post-Soviet Russia and the United States. For the relations between the Russian empire and the United States (1776-1922), see: Relations between the Russian Empire and the United States. For the relations between the Soviet Union and the United States (1922-1991), see: Soviet-United States relations.
  |
|
 |
|
| Russia | United States |
Relations between the United States of America and the Russian Federation since 1991 began after the demise of the Soviet Union. Relations between the two nations improved after the collapse, but have recently become more tense. Some have speculated that a new arms race or "new Cold War" may be imminent.[1]
Contents |
[edit] End of the Cold War
In the late 1980s, Eastern European nations took advantage of the relaxation of Soviet control under Mikhail Gorbachev and began to break away from communist rule. On July 31, 1991, the START I treaty cutting back nuclear warheads was signed by Gorbachev and U.S. president George H.W. Bush. In December 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Commonwealth of Independent States was formed. With the ending of Communism, relations between Russia and the United States warmed rapidly.
| Russia |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Other countries · Atlas Politics Portal |
| United States |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Legislative
Executive
Judiciary
Subdivisions
|
|
Other countries · Atlas US Government Portal |
[edit] Post-Cold War Era
The aggressive privatization/free market reforms implemented by Russian President Boris Yeltsin during the 1990s were strongly encouraged and supported by the U.S. administrations of George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, and by American economists and corporations. However, the reforms, known as "shock therapy", produced a major economic crisis in Russia, resulting in skyrocketing poverty, and the rise of corrupt "oligarchs" who amassed power and tremendous wealth after acquiring control of the former Soviet state industries. Public order and stability deteriorated greatly.
In regard to international affairs, Russia largely stayed on the sidelines during this period. Although lending tacit support to its historical ally, Serbia, Russia stood aside and did not attempt to block U.S./NATO military interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.
During the presidencies of Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush, the U.S. and Russia began to have more serious disagreements. Under Putin, Russia became more assertive in international affairs than it had been under his predecessor; under Bush, the U.S. took an increasingly unilateral course in its foreign policy, particularly in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.
In 2002, Bush withdrew the U.S. from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in order to move forward with plans for a missile defense system. Putin called the decision a mistake. Russia strongly opposed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, though without exercising its veto in the United Nations Security Council. Russia has regarded the expansion of NATO into the old Eastern Bloc, and U.S. efforts to gain access to Central Asian oil and natural gas as a potentially hostile encroachment on Russia's sphere of influence.
Leaders in the U.S. and elsewhere in the West have expressed growing concern over Putin's increasingly authoritarian rule and reversal of democratic reforms, human rights violations in Chechnya, suppression of free speech, alleged murder of political dissidents, attacks on journalists in Russia, and support for highly authoritarian regimes in other former Soviet republics. Moscow has also been accused of using its natural gas resources to blackmail neighboring countries like Ukraine and Georgia to gain concessions on matters of concern to the Kremlin.
[edit] Increasing Tensions
In March 2007, the U.S. announced plans to build an anti-ballistic missile defense installation in Poland along with a radar station in the Czech Republic. Both nations were former Warsaw Pact members. American officials said that the system was intended to protect the United States and Europe from possible nuclear missile attacks by Iran or North Korea. Russia, however, viewed the new system as a potential threat and, in response, tested a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile, the RS-24, which it claimed could defeat any defense system. Russian president Vladimir Putin warned the U.S. that these new tensions could turn Europe into a "powder keg". On June 3, 2007, Putin warned that if the U.S. builds the missile defense system, Russia would consider targeting missiles at Poland and the Czech Republic.[2].
On October 16, 2007, Vladimir Putin visited Iran to discuss Russia's aid to Iran's nuclear power program and "insisted that the use of force was unacceptable."[3] On October 17, Bush stated "if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," understood as a message to Putin.[4] A week later Putin compared U.S. plans to put up a missile defense system near Russia's border as analogous to when the Soviet Union deployed missiles in Cuba, prompting the Cuban Missile Crisis.[5]
On February 14, 2008, Vladimir Putin again announced that Russia might have to retarget some of its rockets towards the missile defense system, claiming that "If it appears, we will be forced to respond appropriately - we will have to retarget part of our systems against those missiles." He also said that missiles might be redirected towards Ukraine if they went ahead with plans to build NATO bases within their territory, saying that "We will be compelled to aim our missiles at facilities that we consider a threat to our national security, and I am putting this plainly now so that the blame for this is not shifted later,"[6]
[edit] Timeline of Peace between The US and Russia
This timeline of peace shows the growing relations between Russia and the United States following the end of the Cold War.
- 1992 Yeltsin visits the United States.
- 1992 Russia attends the Washington Summit.
- 1994 First joint US-Russian Space Shuttle mission.
- 1996 Ratification of START 2 treaty.
- 1998 Launch of International Space Station.
- 2002 US president George W Bush and Russian president Vladimir Putin meet in Moscow and sign a treaty on strategic offensive reductions and declaration on a new strategic relationship.
- 2007 Russia offers The United States to put missile defences on Azerbijan.
[edit] Military Alliance
The United States and Russia has done joint military excersises, training and counter terrorist excersises in Germany. This was done in hopes to strengthen relations with the United States and Russia.[1] The Russian president also proposed that the United States to put missile defences in Azerbijan which the United States is considering.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ *The United States Policy towards Russia: A Dossier.
- ^ Gottemoeller, Rose. Interview with Robert Siegel. Talk of the Nation. NPR. June 5, 2007.
- ^ Vladimir Putin pledges to complete Iranian nuclear reactor, October 17, 2007.
- ^ White House Transcript of October 17, 2007 Press Conference.
- ^ Putin compares U.S. plan to Cuban missile crisis, October 26, 2007.
- ^ Russia could aim rockets at European missile shield - Putin
[edit] See also
- Kremlinology
- List of United States Ambassadors to Russia
- Indo-American relations
- Sino-American relations
- Russo-Chinese Relations
- Soviet–United States relations
- Cold War
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
