Unresolved Issues Between Washington and Moscow -- Stratfor
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2009/07/07/geopolitical_diary__the_unresolved_issues_between_washington_and_moscow_96886.html
Obama Gambles on a Russian Wedge -- Joshua Tucker, The New Republic
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2009/07/07/obama-s-russia-gamble.aspx
America's Arms Control Amnesia -- Keith Paine, Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124693303362103841.html
Don't Abandon Russia's Democrats -- Boris Nemstov, Wall Street Journal opinion
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124693161375903683.html
What's at Stake -- Frank J. Gaffney Jr., Washington Times opinion
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/07/whats-at-stake/
A Good Start on Restarting US-Russia Engagement -- Los Angeles Times editorial
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-russia7-2009jul07,0,3810480.story
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Obama must be firm on foreign policy
By Gideon Rachman, Financial Times, July 6, 2009
Just a few months into his presidency, Mr Obama’s policy of engagement with Iran has also been all but wrecked by the violent crackdown in that country. His advisers once day-dreamed about a dramatic presidential trip to Tehran, a speech before cheering students, a disarming smile for Mr Ahmadi-Nejad. All of that is unthinkable now. Instead, Mr Obama is left having to cope with a wounded and aggressive Iranian government, intent on pressing ahead with its nuclear programme. The US president will now have to fend off the “bomb Iran” lobby – but without being able to point to a plausible diplomatic alternative.
The policy of American engagement with Russia is going only a little better. Agreements on arms control and transit routes to Afghanistan cannot extinguish the still smouldering antagonisms created by last year’s Georgia war.
Above all Mr Obama is getting nothing on the issue he placed at the centre of his drive for a rapprochement with Russia: Iran.
Mr Obama’s problems with Iran and Russia are merging into a single, nasty mess. The president had seen an improved relationship with Russia as the key to solving Iran. The idea was that the newly friendly Russians would help to talk their Iranian neighbours into a nuclear deal. If that did not work, Russia would help to tighten sanctions on Iran. Without the Kremlin there can be no new United Nations sanctions on Iran (that pesky Russian veto). A package of western sanctions that does not include Russia would be too full of holes to put real pressure on Iran. [continued…]
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5df97f8c-6a52-11de-ad04-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1
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