Ex-NATO exec: Better to work with Russia

A former NATO executive contends the U.S. should try to work with Russia instead of creating a headwind for the remnant of the fallen Soviet Union.

"If you look at the amazing collection of difficult issues the U.S. faces today – Iraq, Afghanistan, terrorism – it's better to cooperate with a country like Russia than to have a freeze or a standoff," said Michael Stopford, a former NATO deputy director assistant secretary general for strategy communications.

His comments came in a recent online video, but he also addressed the issue at the just-concluded Advancing a Constructive Agenda for U.S.-Russia Relations forum in Moscow Sept. 8-9.

The forum centered on U.S.-Russian relations, cooperation and agreement, but much of the discussion touched on the growing hostility between the two nations.

Stopford said the continuing spiral of punitive sanctions against Russia – most recently in response to its actions in Crimea and Ukraine – is damaging the region's economy.

He argued there are far worse threats in the world, such as ISIS and Boko Haram. The world is facing an onslaught of Islamic terror while the West is focusing on Ukraine, and the major news talk is of a new Cold War, he said.

On the video, Stopford contends it's "to everybody's advantage to take a longer view" and focus on engagement rather than "standoff and freeze."

"A stable, prosperous, internationally engaged Russia is in the overall international interest just as much as it's in Russia's interest," he said.

The conference attracted a large number of American and Russian academics, professionals and political leaders.

William J. Murray of the Religious Freedom Coalition, who was in attendance, warned that both Russia and the U.S. "face an existential threat no less lethal than the two nations once faced from the Axis powers in World War II."

He said it's a "threat powered by an ideology that literally worships death – an ideology whose adherents literally love death more than the citizens of Russian and the United States love life itself."

He identified the threat as "jihadist fighters" who "behead young Christian boys, rape young Christian girls and use the heads of their victims as soccer balls."

There were some alarming conversations, including discussion about the possibility of nuclear conflict, he said.

Mikhail Delyagin, director of the Institute of Globalization, said Russia was not so concerned about American involvement in the Middle East. But the overthrow of a "democratic government" on the Russian border for the purpose of establishing a NATO presence there was indeed a concern that could lead to war, he said.

However, Murray pointed out, Alexis Rodzianko, current president of the American Chamber of Commerce, emphasized the ties between the nations, because "4,000 Russian engineers are working for Boeing."

American Nicolai Petro, a Fulbright Scholar in Ukraine, questioned the return of the American policy of containment of Russia from the Cold War era. He said U.S. fear of a Eurasian economic union is actually the driving force for the anti-Putin hysteria in Washington.

Gilbert Doctorow, founder of the European Committee for East-West Accord, said that during the Cold War, Russia was feared but respected. Today, however, there is a universal belittlement of Russia. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., calls Russia nothing more than a "gas station," and Barack Obama said it "does not make anything anyone wants."

He warned the attempts to isolate nations economically over disagreements is dangerous "in the case of Russia."

Murray concluded the conference overall was a failure.

"Despite some very good presentations, most of the participants were themselves from a past era," he said. "Their idealistic solutions included person-to-person dialogue and exchanges between ordinary Americans and Russians, as if it were still 1970. In reality over 200,000 expat Americans work in Russia, and that many or more Russians work in the United States."

Murray noted " a lot of dialogue exists already, and most of those involved are bewildered by the behavior of their respective leaders."

"The root problem between the two nations originates with the old dogs of war who are the advisers of the leaders of the United States and Russia," he said.