NEWSWATCH: “Continue the Unfinished Business of Integrating Russia into the Global Economy. Renewed economic interaction would increase the West’s influence, not lessen it” – The National Interest/Carnegie Corporation/J. Andrew Spindler
“… Trump has an unusual opportunity … to improve the tone of U.S.-Russian relations, currently at one of their lowest ebbs …. The positive possibilities in the short run are substantial …. the potential for a U.S.-Russian collaboration in the Middle East, particularly with regard to defeating ISIS and developing a peace plan for Syria. … there are many other fronts where U.S.-Russian cooperation could be productively pursued …. A key area … would be in the economic sphere. The West, led by the United States, invested heavily in the development of a market-oriented economy and financial sector for Russia during the 1990s and early 2000s. … help[ing] to significantly integrate Russia into the global economy and financial system. … considerable effort was spent building capacity at the Central Bank of Russia to supervise Russian banks, modernizing the payments system and developing a domestic government securities market, among other areas of work. … increased trade and financial flows helped cement Russia’s ties with western Europe and the United States. As relations deteriorated … particularly after the Russian seizure of Crimea, Western sanctions effectively penalized Russia for its decision to join the Western-dominated global economy, a decision which left Russia far more vulnerable to the sanctions’ effects.