Russia: Other Points of View

Suzanne Massie’s Advice to President Obama: Revive Reagan’s Policy toward Russia

by W. George Krasnow

Personal note  by Sharon Tennison

Suzanne Massie, Russian expert at Harvard's Russian Research Center, was introduced by Robert "Bud" McFarlane, National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan in January 24, 1984. After that first meeting with President Reagan and several of his cabinet members,  Ms. Massie was invited to 21 follow-up meetings from 1984-1988 with the President at the White House.

During these numerous meetings, Ms. Massie opened President Reagan's mentality beyond weapons and Cold War rhetoric.  She gave him historic and cultural insights regarding Russia and Russian conditioning that allowed him to think "out of the box" regarding the relationship between the superpowers - despite the mindsets of many by whom he was surrounded.  As a result of these meetings, America experienced a massive easing of superpower tensions and a reduction of Cold War mentality.

Ms. Massie is back again in 2008, urging President Elect Obama to consider following President Reagan's footsteps with Russia's current leaders.  We at ROPV go further:  we believe President Elect Obama would do well to have "21 sessions" with Ms. Massie in 2009 on all things Russian.

To access the article by W. George Krasnow, please click here Download Massie_Obama_Reagan

Photo source: http://www.suzannemassie.com/bio.html  

A Democracy-Building Project in Russia

By Sharon Tennison

An American Rotarian living in Petrozavodsk, Russia since 2001 is involved in a fascinating task. It is to create for Russia a "democracy building" curriculum called "Civic Education" based on America's Founding Fathers' concept of democracy in the US between 1662 and 1775. The curriculum is being prepared for implementation in all Russian Federation public schools.

The Georgia/South Ossetia/Russia/US Crisis

by Sharon Tennison, August 20, 2008

CCI friends and funders,

Many of you have called and emailed regarding the Georgia/S.Ossetia/Russia debacle. We've followed the happenings day and night - at times over a hundred emails a day arrived from analysts and experts on Russia. These events occurred right after I arrived from Russia, so this is the first time I've had to write - though I hope you have checked our blog for analyses of NYT, WP, and other articles on these issues.

This following piece is unforgivably long. If you have little time to read, please just scan the following bullets.