The Future of U.S.-Russian Relations

Abstract: No matter how Russia's war against Ukraine ends, it is not going to disappear as a major challenge for the United States in the years ahead. How should the United States think about managing relations with a country that will almost certainly remain authoritarian in its political structure, expansionist in its foreign-policy impulse, economically and technologically lagging, yet determined to play the role of a great power in competition with the United States on the global stage? What are the implications for strategic stability, European security, and the United States's strategic rivalry with China? US-Russian strategic partnership may be impossible, but with the right policies the United States could engage in constructive competition with Russia that advances American national interests across the globe.

Bio: Thomas Graham is a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he focuses on Russian/Eurasian affairs and US-Russian relations. He is also a research scholar at the MacMillan Center at Yale University, where he teaches courses on US-Russian relations and Russian foreign policy. He was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russia on the US National Security Council 2004-2007 and Director for Russian Affairs 2002-2004. Earlier, he was a senior associate in the Russia/Eurasia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a US diplomat, who served two tours of duty in Moscow, where he worked on political affairs. He also served as a managing director at Kissinger Associates, Inc, an international business consulting firm, 2008-2019.