Russia: Friend, Foe, or What?
April 18, 2007
Russia: Friend, Foe, or What?
Moderated by Ambassador John Miller and featuring University of Washington Professor Herbert Ellison and Bill Robinson, JD
Discovery Institute is pleased to host distinguished Russian Studies scholar Herbert Ellison and international attorney Bill Robinson for an insightful and informative forum and discussion on the state of U.S.-Russia relations. The event will be moderated by Ambassador John Miller and will focus on recent events related to Russia as well as Western stereotypes about Russia and how these stereotypes negatively impact trade and diplomacy.
This will be an opportunity to hear the views of experts who are familiar not only with Moscow, but Russia's regions as well. Their insights into the business and investment climate through out the country will be helpful in discerning the truth behind many of the prevailing stereotypes.
The event is organized by the Discovery Institute's Real Russia Project and will be held in Washington, D.C. on April 18, 2007. The event is open to the public and will be held at 4:30 PM at the University Club located at 1135 16th Street, N.W.
You will not want to miss this important and timely forum. To register, please contact Logan Gage at (202) 558-7084. If you have questions about the event, please contact Yuri Mamchur at (206) 292-0401, ext.151.
See the extended post for the speakers' biographies.
Professor Ellison is the namesake of the Herbert J. Ellison Center for Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies at the University of Washington. Previously, he served as the Director of the esteemed Henry M. Jackson School for International Studies. He is also the author of a recently published book entitled Boris Yeltsin and Russia's Democratic Transformation, one of the first in-depth publications on the subject written by an American author. Professor Ellison is also the former Director of the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. and has also served as a consultant to the State Department and a number of congressional foreign affairs committees. He was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Grant in 1993.
Bill Robinson directs William T. Robinson PLLC, a legal corporation that has represented numerous Russian companies in America, as well as U.S. and multinational clients investing in the former Soviet Union since 1990. Mr. Robinson has lived in Russia and Japan and has traveled extensively throughout Siberia and other regions of the Russian Federation. His vast business knowledge, combined with his own personal experiences within Russia, provide him with a practical perspective on U.S.-Russia relations. He has also been instrumental in helping start Rotary Clubs in many of the Russian regions.
Ambassador John R. Miller is a Professor of International Affairs at George Washington University and Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute. Previously, he served as director of the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and was a senior advisor to Secretary of State Colin Powell on human trafficking. From 1985 to 1993, Ambassador Miller served in the U.S. House of Representatives from the State of Washington. Prior to being elected congressman, he was active in state and municipal government; served as assistant attorney general for Washington; was vice president and legal counsel for the Washington Environmental Council; and was a Seattle city councilman. While in Congress, he held a seat on the House Committee on International Relations and was a member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. He was active in furthering the struggle of Eastern European countries to gain freedom from the then-Soviet Union.
I would like to see some articles posted here on SERGEI IVANOV, such as the latest interview by www.FT.com
Mr. Ivanov is straddled across the Russian domestic economy projects, to defense experience to the very image of Russia. And to this, he is expressing strong words in protecting his home and the advancement of democracy.
Friend or Foe? well, that depends... What if Ivanov became the next president? Would we hold it against him if he continues the trend of Reaganomics in Russia? Or would we want him to soften up, relinquish, lay back, and become like Yeltsin.
The very proud feeling Bush has, and the very protectionist effort Bush applies to his mission, shouldn’t it be ok for Russia to enjoy those same rule? Not the imperialist part of America of reaching out and screwing nations up, just the part of protect what’s theirs.
I mean, Russia will not attack or go into America and start financing NGO’s… But, hopefully America will grant (boy is my sarcasm stretched here) Russia the same autonomy as the US. Yea, grant, as if the world needs to bow down to Bush Jr and ask for the “okay dokey†on these global rules.
It is issues like this that will make Russia “Friend or Foeâ€. The next leaders that will be “oh so grateful†(me sarcasm again) to the West if Russia can enjoy the same rules.
I think Ivanov should put some missile defense systems in Cuba and Venezuela just incase Haiti becomes a nuclear power.
For those interested; a samizdat publication entitled "April Thesis" -On 'War Czar' Politics in the US/Russia Relationship- (the alternative vision presented to the WA DC conferees of the rubric "Russia, Friend, Foe or What?" ) is available from integrityworks@hotmail.com. The paper is one in a series on voices of dissent in US/Russia relations.