Russia: There’s More to the Story

Abbey Nichols
Jul 27, 2017 · 4 min read

Russia’s been in the news a lot lately. You’re always hearing about the latest investigation development and possible collision with Russians. While that does have implications for our relationship with Russia, there’s much more going on.

To start off, Vladimir Putin is arguably one of the strongest leaders in recent memory. His people, for the most part, actually like him; he has promised them that he will restore Russia’s greatness and increase its importance. Russia throughout its history has had leaders obsessed with maintaining authority and a state that always pushes for its own needs.

Russia, during our 2016 election, hacked the DNC and John Podesta, contributed financially to Le Pen’s campaign to swing voters towards a leader who’s favorable to Russia, and is intervening in Syria and Ukraine.

With Russia supporting the Syrian government headed by President Bashar al-Assad and the US supporting the Syrian rebels, we’re on different sides of this conflict. If we can’t work together, there’s a large chance that the Syrian Civil War will turn into yet another proxy war. However very recently, there’s been increased cooperation, such as instating a no-fly zone in an effort to demilitarize parts of Syria and end the war. Also, Crimea is still occupied by Russia and has been since 2014. No one has taken any serious action against it though to support Ukraine (though the UN has condemned Russia) and Ukraine can’t combat Russia on its own.

From flouting international rules, manipulating situations in other states, and hungering for power, Russia represents an affront to US (and Western) superpower status. Russia always pursues its own interests to gain more power and influence. Simply, Russia will do anything to obtain power and doesn’t care about others. The question becomes how to deal with a nation that isn’t interested in negotiating or cooperating.

There are two reasons why this is important to us. The most basic is that it is directly affecting our nation. Russia already interfered in our 2016 election and there’s nothing de-incentivizing it from doing so again in 2018 and 2020. We are our own nation and by letting other countries interfere in our democracy, we have a reason to question our thought processes and the validity of our elections. We need to defend our constitutional right to free and fair elections, with no interference to bias our opinions.

Besides the inward-looking reason to care about Russia, we should care about what it’s doing on a global scale. Russia is trying to undermine world stability and grow its sphere of influence into states (Eastern Europe) that have no power to stop it. We need to cooperate with Russia to limit its scope in order to prevent it from gaining more power and influence — especially since its national interests are often different than ours. We cannot let it walk all over us, since that gives the perception that Russia is more powerful than we are.

Moving forward, we won’t have a “special relationship” with Russia like we do with the UK — our ideological differences and national goals are too incompatible. There’s also no clear, good solution. Russia seems set in its ways and we’re set in ours. Our relation might just not work out and tensions could continue to increase. Sanctions don’t seem to do much to affect its decision-making process, especially in continuing to flout international law. To be blunt, Putin just doesn’t seem to care what others think of him and of Russia, as long as he’s able to do what he wants.

Thus, our only option is strained diplomacy. Through a mix of constructivist methodology and joining forces on other small, global issues, we can build a foundation of trust and cooperation. Using “soft power” is clearly the only viable path, even though it’s less expedient; military power against Russia would be extremely dangerous.

I would argue that the next step is to start small. Work with Russia in relatively low priority crises to show that we can cooperate and agree on issues — emphasizing our similarities will help loosen tensions. For example, we could restart signing arms control treaties, especially since they set a successful historical precedence during the Cold War in thawing bilateral relations. Once some trust is built, we can start working on more pressing issues such as dealing with North Korea and the spheres of influence in Europe. This process has already begun with the recent ceasefire in southern Syria.

To keep peace, as strained as it is, we need to look beyond the ever-updating scandals and what’s happening now. Sure, Mueller’s special investigation keeps creating sensational headlines about the latest piece of information uncovered. But will figuring out what the Trump Campaign/Administration potentially did in the past help the future? Rather, we need to look at what Russia is doing to us locally and to our interests globally. That’s the real issue and it’s not getting the proper attention it deserves. Besides economic sanctions, the US isn’t doing much to assert its position of power. To maintain stability, it’s our duty to step in and stand up for our interests and the interests of the Western world. That means trying to cooperate with Russia, while also holding firm on our beliefs — walking this fine line will be difficult but it’s the only way forward.