Public Remarks
U.S.-Russia Exchanges
William J. Burns, U.S. Ambassador to Russia
Carnegie Moscow Center, June 21, 2007
It's an honor to open this conference, before so many people who have contributed
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This is a moment of considerable frustration between Moscow and Washington. Russians think that Americans simply don't understand how difficult the last 15 years have been for Russian society; that Americans are a little too quick to lecture and preach; and that Americans have been saying for 15 years that they welcomed the revival of Russia as a Great Power, but deep down are uncomfortable with that revival and seek to constrain it. Americans have not been shy about expressing concerns about the over- centralization of power in Russia, and how that power is sometimes used in relations with some of Russia's neighbors. Russians think that Americans often tend to take Russia for granted. Americans think that Russians often tend to assume the worst about American motives. The list of mutual irritants seems to go on and on.
The danger in all this is not, in my view, that we are on the verge of a new Cold War, for which there is neither an ideological basis nor any enduring conflict of fundamental interests. We have both had enough of Cold Wars, and enough of wasteful arms races. The real danger is that we will lose sight of how much Americans and Russians matter to one another, and how much our relationship matters to the rest of the world. It is worth reminding ourselves that on issue after issue we have a lot to gain by working together -- in energy security, in nuclear leadership, in economic cooperation and integration, in fighting global challenges of disease and climate change, in coping with the threat of instability in the Middle East and the spillover of violent extremism. That may not add up to a neat strategic partnership, in which we agree on every question, but it can produce a partnership on key strategic issues.
Adapting U.S.-Russian relations to a new set of realities, to the world of 2007 rather than 1997 or 1987, is the central challenge for our two governments. It is bound to be a messy process, with inevitable missteps and difficulties along the way. But there's another dimension to that effort, which has less to do with governments and policies, and more to do with the broader connections between peoples and societies. As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia, it's worth reminding ourselves of how people-to-people exchanges have enriched both our societies -- and of how those exchanges can help both of us realize our full potential and contribute to the rest of the world in the years ahead. It would be a huge mistake, for both of us, to assume that exchange programs are a thing of the past. In many ways, they are more important than ever. Our challenge, as in the broader U.S.-Russian relationship, is to adapt exchanges to a new set of realities, make them more of a two-way street, tap into the resources and creativity of the private sector and civil society, and keep a sense of perspective about our common interests and shared strengths.
Russians and Americans have a remarkable history together, filled with stories of tragedy and endurance and conflict and accomplishment. Our circumstances and historical experiences have diverged in many respects, and it's sometimes easy to forget how much we have in common. At the risk of demonstrating yet again a diplomat's ability to restate the glaringly obvious, let me note a few examples. Russia and America are both colossal nations, looking out at the world across multiple time zones, whose ambitions and responsibilities have reflected our geographic sweep. We are both multi-ethnic and multi-confessional states, today the two biggest immigrant countries on the face of the earth, whose shared diversity can be a powerful source of strength in a globalized world. We are both frontier nations, accustomed to exploring new possibilities on land and in space, where Yuri Gagarin's first orbit of the earth and Neil Armstrong's first step on the moon launched a partnership between equals that continues to this day. For all the natural resources we both possess, our greatest resource has always been human. Fifty years ago, it was the shared genius of Albert Sabin and Mikhail Chumakov that helped the world eradicate polio. And for all the differences between them, Shostakovich and Duke Ellington, Bulgakov and Hemingway, Sakharov and Martin Luther King, Bill Gates and Sergey Brin have all helped define and propel human society over the last century.
From the earliest days of our relationship, exchanges in education, culture and science have built a sense of common purpose between us. John Quincy Adams first came to St. Petersburg in 1790 as a student, and then returned nearly 20 years later as our first Ambassador, before becoming the sixth President of the United States. While the most obvious conclusion to draw from that fact of history is that the quality of American ambassadors, then and now, has gone straight downhill, it is equally obvious that exchanges and people-to-people contacts have helped build mutual understanding in ways that often elude governments.
One of the true legends of American journalism, Edward R. Murrow, once said that "the really critical link in the international communications chain is the last three feet, which is best bridged by personal contact -- one person talking to another." That was the philosophy which animated the formal U.S.-Soviet exchange programs which were launched fifty years ago, at the height of the Cold War. They included the famous traveling exhibits and the young exhibit guides who accompanied them, across the vast expanse of both of our countries. While the actual subjects of some of those exhibitions may not seem so compelling today -- one of the tours in the 1960s featured the ever-fascinating topic "Plastics of the USA" -- they provided rare opportunities for citizens of our two countries to interact. Many of the alumni of those exhibit programs have gone on to contribute in important ways to helping Russians and Americans to connect a little better with one another, even at moments of profound political tension between us. My friends and fellow American ambassadors John Byerle, Tom Robertson, and Laura Kennedy are extraordinary examples, and so is Rose Gottemoeller, whose hospitality we're enjoying, and whose wisdom I greatly admire.
After the end of the Cold War, thanks in particular to the vision and leadership of Senator Bill Bradley, a whole new set of exchange programs was put in place to help replace the mutual suspicion of Soviet-American relations with a new sense of mutual respect, and to connect a new generation of Russians and Americans to one another. I would be the last person to argue that every piece of advice that the United States offered to Russia in the 1990s was sensible or wise, but one of the smartest investments we made during that period was in innovative exchange programs, like the FLEX program for high school students and the Muskie program for graduate students.
Today there are 60,000 alumni of American exchange programs across Russia, and when I meet with them on my frequent travels outside Moscow, I never cease to be impressed by the ways in which their experiences in the United States have contributed not only to better understanding between our societies, but to the capacity of these young alumni to contribute to Russia's own modernization and growth. The best advertisements for these programs are remarkable, committed individuals like Yulia Simonova, a FLEX alumnus who is now a project manager at Perspektiva, a wonderful Russian non-governmental organization that works on behalf of the disabled, and Anastasiya Ekkert, a FLEX and Muskie alumnus, who is now a successful businesswoman and community leader. They and many other participants in programs launched in the 1990s, and administered today by the State Department, USAID and the exceptional Open World exchanges led by Dr. Jim Billington of the Library of Congress, have created an important foundation for a healthy relationship between our two societies in the decades ahead.
The question now, it seems to me, is not whether to continue Russian-American exchange programs, but how to adapt them to a changing relationship. Russia today is not the place I knew when I last served in our embassy in the mid-1990s, a moment when Russia was flat on its back economically. Russia today, for all the formidable problems it must still overcome, has a trillion dollar economy, the tenth largest in the world, bigger now than India's or Brazil's or Mexico's. It is no longer diplomatically dependent, and is insistent, not surprisingly, that is interests and its voice not be taken for granted. Meanwhile, a middle class is beginning to emerge in this country, and a new generation is becoming more accustomed every day to individual choices and property rights that their parents could only dream of. It is hard to predict how that will translate into political and economic institutions, but it's hard not to see the growth of a constituency that over coming decades will assert a more and more powerful self-interest in the rule of law, economic modernization and broader participation in decisions about how taxes are spent and policies are shaped. There is nothing neat or automatic about that process, and huge challenges like corruption stand in the way, but it's hard not to see the value of continued, systematic exchanges between our two societies as Russia continues a complicated transition that is only 15 years old, and that will continue for at least another generation.
There are several ways in which our exchange relationship is likely to be adapted in the years ahead. The first is to make it more of a two-way street. A year ago, we took a significant step in that direction when the United States and Russia signed an historic memorandum of understanding on educational cooperation, in which we agreed for the first time to jointly finance university partnerships and other exchanges. We also plan to continue joint funding of the U.S.-Russia Volunteer Initiative, through which young volunteers work on public health and other projects in both of our countries. And the U.S. government, for its part, will continue to look for ways to expand our most successful programs, like the Fulbright program. I'm proud to announce that we have created a new John Quincy Adams Scholarship program this year for postgraduate study and research in the U.S. This will be administered under the Fulbright program, and will commemorate the bicentennial of our relationship with Russia. We're also looking for new ways to apply American experience to Russian priorities, so that Russia can learn from our successes as well as our mistakes, as it takes on challenges ranging from improvement of its health and educational systems, to promotion of affordable housing and mortgage markets. And we're exploring new opportunities to help on projects like the development of a Russian national library, in which the experience of the Library of Congress may be useful.
A second shift is likely to be increased reliance on private sector programs, particularly given the dramatic growth of the Russian economy and the expansion of American business in Russia. The Alpha Bank, for example, has already launched a very impressive internship program in Russia for young American entrepreneurs and professionals. ALCOA has set up its own scholarship program for Russian students. Joint private sponsorship has been critical to other wonderful examples of cultural interaction, such as the Guggenheim Museum's exhibition of 300 years of American art, in collaboration with the Pushkin Museum, which is scheduled to open later this summer in Moscow.
A third area of emphasis as our relationship evolves is likely to be more of a focus on ways in which our own bilateral exchanges can contribute to progress on wider international challenges, or in other parts of the world. A good example is the ongoing program in which Russian and American experts work together to enhance laboratory capacity in East Africa in the struggle against HIV-AIDS. We announced last month an increase in U.S. funding for that program next year.
As our exchange relationship changes and adapts, people-to-people contacts between our societies are only going to grow. Sports is a perfect illustration. Just a few days ago, Michelle Kwan, the enormously talented American figure skater, was in Russia as a State Department "sports ambassador." The Los Angeles Clippers professional basketball team was hosted in Moscow last fall by CSKA, last year's European champions. A month later, the U.S. Davis Cup team was in Moscow for a semifinal match with Russia. Both the Clippers and the Davis Cup team lost their competitions here, which was very diplomatic of them, but they won in other important ways in the eyes of Russian audiences who take great pride in the history of Russian-American sports. As in so many other areas outside the world of government to government relations, sports exchanges help connect Americans and Russians to one another.
Thank you once again for the opportunity to open this important conference. I admire greatly what all of you have contributed to Russian-American relations over the years. As all of you know better than anyone, people-to-people exchanges can build understanding in ways that governments oftentimes can't. They are not a substitute for healthy official relationships, but they're a vital complement.
I've been an American diplomat for 25 years, dividing my service between Russia and the Middle East. That experience, in those two regions of the world, has never been dull, and it has stripped me of most of my illusions. But I remain an optimist about Russia, and the long-term future of U.S.-Russian relations. Whenever I say that, my Russian friends invariably remind me of one of the many Russian definitions of an optimist -- someone who thinks tomorrow is going to be better than the day after. I have something a little different in mind. I suspect that tomorrow is going to be quite complicated in our relationship, with challenges that aren't going to be easy for our governments to manage. But people-to-people programs and exchanges will contribute enormously to better understanding between us, and to keeping us focused on what we have to gain by working together.
I wish you all the best over the rest of today's conference, and look forward to welcoming you to Spaso House this evening, where we'll also be hosting the young Russians who are about to depart for this year's exchange programs in the U.S. I can think of no better way to honor them than by having all of you there, and no better way to honor your experience than by sustaining and renewing U.S. - Russian exchanges in the years ahead.
Thank you.