#6033
[Second Issue of the Day]
#4
Moscow Times
January 21, 2002
A New Beginning ...
By Curt Weldon
Curt Weldon is a U.S. congressman. He contributed this comment to The Moscow
Times.
As the United States and Russia work more closely together, we must re-evaluate the nature of our bilateral relationship. Together, we can achieve great things for both our countries -- and for the world -- if we cast aside the last vestiges of the Cold War and build a new relationship for the 21st century.
During my 28 visits to Russia, I have had the privilege of meeting and discussing U.S.-Russian relations with many of Russia's top leaders. I have studied the U.S.-Russian relationship from my vantage point as a member of the Armed Services Committee in Congress and as chairman of our interparliamentary exchange, the Duma-Congress Study Group. After consulting with leading experts on U.S.-Russian relations and speaking with my Duma colleagues and other Russian friends, I drafted a proposal for how our two countries could cooperate on a host of issues. This report, called "A New Time, A New Beginning," emphasizes 11 issues where we can work together for the long-term.
These issues are not confined to defense and security issues that have divided our two countries for so long. Rather, it is a comprehensive approach that covers issues like health care, the environment, science and technology, space exploration and agriculture. Here are some examples of the more than 100 policy proposals:
In space, we can cooperate on joint ventures like space solar power, propulsion technology and weather satellites. On the environment, we should expand debt-for-nature swaps to enable Russia to preserve its natural environment while it reduces its debt. We should also try to help Russia reschedule much of its Paris Club debt. In the field of science, our two countries should resume cooperation on fusion research and begin cooperation on cutting-edge nanotechnology issues.
Regarding economic development, we should help Russia become a member of the WTO -- while we also work for progress on issues like property rights and intellectual property rights. In health care, we should increase cooperation between our National Institutes of Health and the relevant Russian research institutes. In the energy field, Russia has already been helpful to the United States with regard to oil production. We should work with Russia to help it utilize U.S. technology to take full advantage of its vast energy resources in an environmental and sustainable way.
There are unprecedented opportunities to collaborate on defense and security issues that were previously so divisive. We are already working together to combat terrorism, and should begin to take steps to work together on missile defense programs that help protect both our countries. After half a century of Mutually Assured Destruction, the time has come to pool our technological resources for the purpose of creating Mutually Assured Protection.
We find ourselves at a unique moment in history. With vigorous new leadership in Moscow and Washington, now is the time to start fresh. The positive relationship forged by Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, and the increasing cooperation between the Duma and the Congress, gives hope that things are at last moving in the right direction. A long-term, sustainable relationship is in the interests of both countries.
However, before any of this can take place, we must be open and honest in our dealings with each other. Let us use two new watchwords for the U.S.-Russian relationship -- consistency and candor. If we level with each other, and if we mean what we say and keep our word, then the future of our relationship is bright indeed.
Imagine a world where the two great powers work together on the major issues of the day. A world where our enemies cannot divide us by playing us off against each other. A world where the U.S.-Russian relationship is a force for peace around the world. This is a world that any of us would be proud to leave to our children and our grandchildren. I believe we can achieve it, if we work together in good faith. Let us dedicate ourselves to this new relationship, and let us start today. The road ahead is long, but there is much we can do for the American and Russian people. More importantly, though, there is much we can do for peace and stability across the globe, if we have the will to act and the fortitude to stay the course.
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