I’ve been thinking about U.S. and Russia’s political relationship over the last 200 years. How did we get to the point of being “enemies” and Russia being labeled the “Evil Empire” by Ronald Reagan? Why did Russia attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 election? Why do a majority of Americans (68%) have an unfavorable opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin? So it’s time for a little HISTORY LESSON on the U.S./Russian relationship.
For more than 200 years, Russia and the United States have shared a multi-faceted diplomatic relationship, at one point even sharing a land border when Russia had a settlement at Fort Ross, California. Russia’s sale of Alaska to the U.S. Government in the mid-19th century marked an active period that included commercial joint ventures and Russian support for the United States during the American Civil War.
So what is Communism? It’s a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. In 1848 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto, calling for a working-class revolt against capitalism. Its motto, “Workers of the world, unite!” quickly became a rallying cry.
In 1917 with Vladimir Lenin at the helm, the Bolsheviks, ascribing to Marxism, seize power during Russia’s October Revolution and become the first communist government. During this period the Red Terror (executions of the Czar’s officials), prisoner-of-war labor camps and other police state tactics are established.
By 1921 Communism had spread to China and several other countries. In 1924 Lenin died and Joseph Stalin took control. He industrialized the country through a state-controlled economy, but it led to famine. Under his regime, detractors were deported or imprisoned in labor camps and as part of the Great Purge, 1 million people were executed. It was during this time that the U.S. voiced it’s “disagreement” with Communism.
The U.S. provided humanitarian assistance to the victims of the 1921-1923 famine but did not recognize the Soviet Union until 1933. Despite our differences, the Soviets and the Americans united against a common enemy during World War II. At the end of the war the Soviet Union controlled much of Eastern Europe and the Baltic States. The Cold War was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies that developed after World War II. The Soviets also retained East Berlin and put up a wall to contain the occupants. 80 Berliners were killed attempting to escape.
In 1946 Stalin declared that international peace was impossible “under the present capitalist development of the world economy.” Winston Churchill said “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” Britain and the United States, he declared, had to work together to counter the Soviet threat. It was waged mainly on political, economic, and propaganda fronts and lasted until 1991.
The Cold War reached its deepest and most dangerous era during the administration of John F. Kennedy. Cuba had become a communist country under the strong influence of the USSR. In 1961, Kennedy supported an invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro supporters. The American government were hopeful that this invasion would lead to an uprising against Castro. The Bay of Pigs invasion consisted of fewer than 1,500 Cuban exiles, supported by the CIA. This invasion was a complete disaster and the invaders never got further than the beach. From Castro’s view point this invasion was evidence that the USA was working actively to overthrow his government.
In July 1962 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev reached a secret agreement with Cuban premier Fidel Castro to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter any future invasion attempt. These were discovered by overflying spy planes and this led to the most direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. The stand-off went on for 13 days with negotiations primarily directly between Kennedy and Khrushchev. I can still remember being in 2nd grade and having “air raid drills” where all the students would go to the basement of the school and crouch against the wall! It was terrifying and my parents truly thought we were facing a nuclear war. Ultimately the USSR agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for the US removing missiles from Turkey and a nuclear holocaust was averted. This is a great article if you’d like to read more: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/cuban-missile-crisis
From 1940-1979 Communism was established by force or otherwise in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Yugoslavia, Poland, North Korea, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, China, Tibet, North Vietnam, Guinea, Cuba, Yemen, Kenya, Sudan, Congo, Burma, Angola, Benin, Cape Verde, Laos, Kampuchea, Madagascar, Mozambique, South Vietnam, Somalia, Seychelles, Afghanistan, Grenada, Nicaragua and others. The U.S. campaign to stop Communism led to our involvement in the Korean and Viet Nam Wars. I actually was in Grenada in 1980-1982 attending medical school and it was very obviously a Soviet satellite state utilizing Cubans to build an airport. We often saw Soviet ships unloading cargo in the harbor and Soviet made trucks around the island. In October 1983 Reagan sent American troops in to quell a coup attempt and rescue American Medical Students. There were rumors that the 10,000 ft. runway was for Soviet re-fueling and there was even another rumor that the Soviets were building a submarine base that would have given them a “warm water” port!
It’s not until 1989 that the Berlin Wall—that separated communist East Berlin from democratic West Berlin for nearly 30 years—falls. The years 1989-90 see the collapse of communist regimes in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Benin, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Yemen. In 1991 with the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union is dissolved. Remember the famous Reagan speech? “Mr. Gorbachev, Tear down this wall!”
The new Russian President Boris Yeltsin bans the Communist Party. Communism soon ends in Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Congo, Kenya, Yugoslavia and other nations. China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam remain under communist rule. North Korea remains nominally communist, although the North Korean government doesn’t call itself communist.
So let’s fast forward. The 1990’s is now remembered as a time of chaos, enriching a few and impoverishing many, during which Russia was “humiliated” by having to accept an agenda largely dictated by the United States. Previous USSR states were not able to join NATO. Today, Russia defines its security perimeter not as the borders of the Russian Federation, but as the borders of the former Soviet Union. It demands that the United States and Europe acknowledge this. So far, Washington has refused to accept that premise and insists on Russia’s neighbors’ right to choose their foreign policy orientation. Putin has been attempting to “re-assemble” the glory days of the previous USSR.
Although it is weaker than the U.S. both economically and militarily, Russia has the ability to intervene around the globe and to interfere with U.S. interests. There have been two periods in recent history when cooperation between the U.S. and Russia has worked well: the immediate post-9/11 period when Russia assisted the United States in the first phase of the war in Afghanistan, providing information which it had collected from its decade-long war there; and during the 2008-12 period of the “reset” between Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, when Moscow and Washington cooperated on arms control, Afghanistan, Iran, and a range of other issues. 2012 Putin returned to the control of Russia and in 2013 he granted asylum to Edward Snowden. In 2014 Putin annexed Crimea and after that parts of Ukraine. Responding to this violation of sovereignty, the United States imposed sanctions on Russian individuals close to Putin and on Russia’s ability to access financial markets. In 2015 Putin sent in troops to support Assad in Syria….again pitting Russia with the U.S.
Finally the nail in the coffin to U.S-Russia relations was Russia’s cyber interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign.
So what does the U.S. face going forward with the US/Russian relationship? Strategic Weapon Treaties due to elapse, resolution of the ongoing Ukraine conflict, Russia’s increasingly close relationship with China, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, and ongoing interference with elections. Some SERIOUS issues.
Developing a more productive relationship with Russia will remain a major challenge for the United States. Perhaps there will be some progress due to the challenge of Covid and vaccine development. Russia seeks to create a “post-West” world in which the United States is one of several great power players and can no longer dominate the international scene. It seeks U.S. recognition for its right to a sphere of influence. We’ll have to wait and see where this goes next. Whoever interacts with Putin and Russia better be “on their game”. 200 years is a long history of conflict.
