The War in Georgia: Assessing the Aftermath

Transcript

AMB. TALBOTT:   The real motivation here from the Russian standpoint is that they regard it as inherently and unacceptably anti-Russian for an independent state –- and by the way, what does CIS stand for? Commonwealth of Independent States. They regard it as unacceptable for an independent state on their borders to want to integrate with Western European international institutions including NATO, including the E.U.

Now that, I would suggest, is highly problematic and certainly not something that any other country should accept, but moreover it calls into question the premise of U.S. policy towards Russia going back at least three administrations: George Herbert Walker Bush, Bill Clinton and the current President. There are more than nuances of differences among all three of those administration and all three of those Presidents, but all three of them have been committed to the proposition that it is in Russia’s interest and it is in the world’s interest for Russia to rejoin Europe, to join international institutions and, by the way, to partner and maybe someday even be more than just a partner with NATO.

And, if Russia is going to take the position that not only is it not interested in integrating in that fashion, but it’s not going to allow its supposedly sovereign and independent neighbors to do so, that calls into doubt the entire premise of U.S., European and Western international relations with Russia and will need to be taken into account by the next President of the United States.

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