CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has received a $519,900 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to launch a major reexamination of U.S. foreign policy toward Russia and to develop a new comprehensive, coherent, and effective policy on U.S.-Russian relations for consideration by the next American president.
“Since the fall of the Berlin Wall nearly 20 years ago, U.S. policy toward Russia and its neighbors has become fragmented, inconsistent and fleeting. Yet, Russia and other former Soviet states are increasingly important in the international arena, particularly with respect to energy security, nuclear nonproliferation, illicit trade, and terrorism,” said Leslie Berlowitz, Chief Executive Officer and William T. Golden Chair of the American Academy. “The upcoming American presidential election and recent leadership change in Russia provide an opportunity to re-think U.S.-Russian relations. The Carnegie Corporation grant will enable the Academy to offer the incoming U.S. administration a broad analytical strategy and concrete recommendations for an American policy toward Russia that could enhance the security and national interests of both countries.”
Robert Legvold, the Marshall D. Shulman Professor of Political Science at Columbia University and an Academy Fellow, will lead the study, which will convene a diverse group of academics, policymakers, business leaders, and policy analysts, some specialists on Russia and others with a broad interest in U.S. foreign policy. The project will result in a scholarly re-analysis of U.S. policy toward Russia; a new coalition of analysts drawn widely from the academic and public policy communities; written products that communicate the study’s findings and recommendations to various constituencies; and outreach efforts to promote the findings and recommendations within the executive and legislative branches of government, the media, and the policy community. The Academy will collaborate on the project with Georgetown University, the Carnegie Moscow Center, the Ambassadors Group, and the U.S.-Russia Roundtable on Human Rights and Democracy, among other organizations.
The American Academy has a distinguished history of research on international security issues, particularly arms control and the analysis of U.S.-Russian relations. Recently the Academy concluded another study, also led by Legvold, which produced a series of five books examining security challenges in the new nation-states formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, including Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.
Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. Current Academy research focuses on science, technology and global security; social policy and American institutions; the humanities and culture; and education. With headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., the Academy's work is advanced by its 4,600 elected members, who are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business and public affairs from around the world.