#3 - JRL 9060 - JRL Home
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2005
From: Edward Lozansky (Lozansky@aol.com)
Subject: Bush - Putin Letter

This letter and signature list was organized by the American University in Moscow and New Eurasia Foundation. Thank you.

February 14, 2005
Washington, DC
Moscow, Russia

An Open Letter to the President of the United States of America GEORGE W. BUSH and the President of the Russian Federation VLADIMIR V. PUTIN

Dear Messrs. Presidents,

Citizens of your countries have re-elected you to head two great nations at a critical time in world history -- a time when ideological or religious fanaticism is once again attacking free societies, now using means of mass terror and destruction.

Like your predecessors during World War II, you have clearly understood the menace that threatens our countries and the rest of the world. You are also fortunate not to be handicapped by the dividing rhetoric of Cold War ideology.

Perpetrators of 9/11 and Beslan and their followers have openly declared a war against our countries, and therefore this war must only end in our common victory. Some of the words of our national leaders in this crisis will go down in history, among them the immediate response to Sept. 11 from Vladimir Putin: "America, we are with you."

These words opened the way for tangible military and political cooperation between Russia and the U.S.: - Russian intelligence assistance to the U.S. military operation in Afghanistan, which resulted in enhanced security for both countries. - Your new message on the correspondence of the strategic interests of Russia and the U.S. and your shared concern for the many common security problems in the Middle East, Central and East Asia. - Your underlining of the new reality by your joint declaration at the 2002 Moscow summit, where you state that Russia and the U.S. are already strategic partners in preserving global security. Mutual pledges to continue this friendship were made at meetings in St. Petersburg, Evian and Camp David. Similar declarations, reinforced by signing of commercial and trade agreements, probably will be made in Bratislava.

Unfortunately we are presently witnessing the growing tensions in U.S. - Russia relations, largely generated by people who for various reasons resist our countries' rapprochement. The problem is that your broader vision and understanding of the extraordinary importance of U.S. - Russia security cooperation has greatly surpassed that of your political elites, state bureaucrats, and the world media.

For many Russian and American ordinary people and elites both countries remain some phantom enemies that they must heroically oppose. They continue to express mutual distrust, and are reluctant to accept each other as a reliable strategic partner.

However, the elections of 2004 provided both of you with a mandate from your voters which gives you the right and responsibility to not only recast, but enhance, the partnership between Russia and the U.S. despite resistance of cold war warriors and special interest groups.

As leaders of two great nations you are now answerable not only before your voters and parties, but before the world and history. The meeting in Bratislava gives you the opportunity to make unmistakably clear that the relationship will go forward, and to restore conviction in its foundations in shared strategic interests.

To address the tendency in political circles and media to create distance and distrust, it is crucial to expand the discussion agenda to include such items as:

- Russia’s role in the shaping the world order. Joint efforts to ensure that the Middle East, Central and Middle Asia, and North Caucuses do not turn into reservoirs of Islamic radicalism;

- Preparing a joint strategy for steady transformation in the post-Soviet space and other regions of mutual interests to stable democratic societies guaranteeing universal human freedoms;

- Activating the Energy Dialogue and establishing a more effective partnership in this area, including joint research on new energy sources;

- Establishing joint U.S.-Russia or NATO-Russia bases in several strategic locations. Such joint bases will be politically more secure, and help the military focus on the real issue: more effective action against terrorism, including possible joint strikes against terrorist bases;

- Negotiating agreements that promote the creation of a joint missile defense system, with the possibility that some of the system’s components be located on Russian territory;

- Establishing joint think tank to generate new ideas for U.S. Russia cooperation in economics, business, science, ecology, education, and culture and provide informational support for visible reinforcements to your strategic orientation toward American Russian alliance. Otherwise, it will undoubtedly be undermined by powerful lobbies on both sides of the Atlantic.

We wish you success in your supreme mission in this important moment in world history.

Signatories in Alphabetical Order:

Dr. Arthur Adams, Ohio State University*
Dr. Grigori Amirdjanov, Council on Cybernetics, Russian Academy of Sciences
Mr. John Anderson, Global Emergency Response
Dr. Patrick Armstrong, Canada
Mr. Michael Averko, Independent Foreign Policy Analyst
Mr. Bruce W. Bean, American Bar Association's Russia-Eurasia Committee
Dr. Jack N. Behrman, University of North Carolina
Mr. Ralph Davis, Russian Military-Security Media Coverage
Dr. Karen Dawisha, Center for Russian & Post-Soviet Studies, Miami University, OH
Ms. Patricia Dowden, Center for Citizen Initiatives
Gen. Vladimir Dvorkin, Institute of International Economics and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences
Dr. Robert English, University of Southern California
Dr. Mikhail Fedotov, Union of Journalists of the Russian Federation
Dr. David Foglesong, Rutgers University
Dr. Ludmila Foster, Congress of Russian Americans
Dr. Hall Gardner, American University of Paris
Dr. Mike Greenwood, Clark College, WA
Dr. Alexander Grigorov, Stroineftegas Alliance
Hon. Ralph Hall, U.S. Congressman
Dr. Roger Hamburg, Indiana University
Mr. Dennis Hopple, CBSD/Thunderbird Russia
Dr. Alexander Konovalov, Institute for Strategic Assessments
Dr. Andrei Kortunov, New Eurasia Foundation
Dr. George Krasnow, Russia & America Goodwill Association
Dr. Eric Kraus, Sovlink Securities
Dr. Sergei Krotov, Moscow State University
Mr. Peter Lavelle, United Press International
Dr. Herbert London, Hudson Institute
Mr. Lloyd J. Lounsbury, Washington Avionics Inc.
Dr. Edward Lozansky, American University in Moscow
Dr. Yuri I. Luryi, University of Toronto
Dr. Roberta T. Manning, Boston College
Dr. Sergei Markov, National Civil Council on International Affairs
Mr. Bruce S. Marks, Marks & Sokolov
Dr. Christopher Marsh, Baylor University
Dr. Andrei Melville, Moscow State Institute of International Relations
Dr. Dimitry N. Mentus, Belelectron - K
Dr. Andranik Migranyan, Moscow State University of International Relations
Dr. Mihajlo Mihajlov, Author and scholar, Belgrade
Dr. Arkady Murashev, Institute of Freedom and Democracy
Dr. Gennady Osipov, Institute of Social and Political Research, Russian Academy of Sciences
Dr. Yuri Ossipyan, Institute of Solid State Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences
Dr. Igor N. Panarin, Diplomatic Academy
Dr. Tatiana Parkhalina, Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences
Dr. Kathleen Parthe, University of Rochester
Dr. Gleb Pavlovsky, Foundation for Effective Policy
Dr. Nicolai N. Petro, University of Rhode Island
Dr. Andrei Piontkovsky, Center for Strategic Analysis
Dr. Gil Pontecorvo, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
Dr. Alexander Rahr, German Council on Foreign Relations.
Mr. Yan Rejin, Russian-American Business Club
Mr. Tom Robinson, International Liaison, Ministry of Emergency Situations
Mr . Eugene Shablygin, Jet Info Systems International
Dr. Alexander Shumilin, Center for Analysis of the Greater Middle East Conflicts
Dr. Alexei Sisakian, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna
Dr. Ira Straus, Committee on Eastern Europe and Russia in NATO
Dr. Vyacheslav Stepin, Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences
Dr. Ronald Grigor Suny, University of Chicago
Dr. Dmitry Suslov, Council on Foreign and Defense Policy
Ms. Sharon Tennison, Center for Citizen Initiatives
Mr. Bob Thompson, Coalitions for America
Dr. Andrei P. Tsygankov, San Francisco State University
Mr. Aleksandr Tsipko, Literaturnaya Gazeta
Mr. Alexander Vasin, International Academy of Professionals
Dr. Anna Vassilieva, Monterey Institute of International Studies
Dr. Eugene Vertlieb, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies
Dr. Boris Vinogradsky, Russian American Medical Association
Dr. Yevgeny Volk, International Friedrich von Hayek Foundation Moscow
Dr. Albert L. Weeks, New York University
Hon. Curt Weldon, U. S. Congressman
Mr. Paul M. Weyrich, Free Congress Foundation
Hon. Curtin Windsor, U.S. Ambassador
Dr. Evgeny Zhukov, Institute of Economics, Russian Academy of Sciences

*Affiliation for identification purposes only