Since the end of World War II, the foreign policy of the United States has combined two basic approaches to describing and prescribing the behavior of great and small powers in the international system. Though they have experienced many theoretical modifications over the years, these two approaches remain at their core political idealism and political realism.
Given today’s international landscape, it is clearly in the interest of both the United States and Russia that Russia be fully integrated into this post-post-Cold War world.
Russia can be a critical partner in building security and stability in the regions it borders -- Europe, Central Asia, and the Far East. After half a century in which we viewed the Soviet Union as the primary threat to stability in these regions, we can now work with a democratizing Russia to help integrate these areas more fully into the global system.(David,1997)
Russia is also a necessary partner in addressing today’s many transnational and global challenges. As a permanent member of the Security Council and a nation with broad international reach, Russia must be part of the solution to such threats as terrorism, proliferation, HIV/AIDS, and environmental degradation.
Finally, there is a high opportunity cost -- in two ways -- if the United States, Russia, and Europe fail to seize the moment to integrate Russia into Western and international norms and institutions. On one hand is the risk of forfeiting the contribution a prosperous, democratic, self-confident Russia could make to global prosperity, particularly in energy, aeronautics, and other high-tech fields. On the other, a failed or isolated Russia would represent yet another source of transnational threats -- from loose nukes and other weapons of mass destruction, to large migration flows into Central and Western Europe, to drugs and disease.
It used to be axiomatic that if.......
