Page 14 - April 2017 Life In Naplles Magazine

The Real “Reset”

we need with Russia

by Congressman Francis Rooney We need to
A new plan of action is needed to respond to one of our greatest carefully assess

our interests in
geopolitical threats, Russia. Too often, the past Administration
focused their Russia strategy on empty statements and the pressure of
sanctions in an attempt to “reset” U.S.-Russian relations, a position of weakness the region and
the threat to
instead of strength. The first action the Obama Administration took was to
remove the Bush missile shield from Poland and the Czech Republic, followed
by accepting a defective ICBM agreement. Russian President Vladimir Putin them posed by an
has been encouraged to test the United States’ resolve, and has followed up with aggressive Russia.
a series of aggressive actions. A strategy based on actions which are firm and
clear is all that will deter Russia from further aggression.
A constant theme in Putin’s foreign policy has been his desire to regain formerly conquered territories in a
throwback to the “golden age” of the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great. Under Czarina Catherine,
Russia achieved its greatest territorial extent, including the Baltics, modern-day Belarus and Ukraine, and
a third of Poland after its partition in 1795. This spread Russian culture, including its language and Slavic
immigrants, to these conquered territories. Protection of the populations of Russian speaking Slavs living
in these now independent countries is used as justification by Putin for his recent invasion of the Crimean
Peninsula, his interference in the Balkans and the Trans-Caucasus, and his threats to the Baltic countries of
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Putin’s boldness has been encouraged by a series of foreign policy blunders committed in President
Obama’s Administration. In a 2009 speech in Moscow, President Obama called for a “reset” to U.S.-Russian
relations, declaring that “Americans and Russians share common interests that form a basis for co-operation.”
He called for “a fresh start between the Kremlin and the White House.”

14 Life in Naples | April 2017