Institutions and Competition

US-Russia relations, learning from the past

October 16, 2017
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During the "Cold War" amidst cries of "we will bury you" and the U-2 incident, American and Soviet scientists worked togther to develop and proliferate an oral vaccine to mediate the feared polio virus that during the first half of the 20th century and killed and crippled hundreds of thousands of children.
In an article written several years ago celebrating the 200th anniversary of US-Russian relations, then Ambassador to Russia William J. Burns wrote a short article disussing the cooperation. It did not receive a lot of attention.
Some youthful members of the "alt-right" might read it with disbelief and call it "fake news." It's not. It's what happens when two nations decide to work toward defeating a common enemy, in this case
polio.
Questions surrounding development of the polio vaccines continue to be wrought with controversy and ill will, and you can read and view news clips about all this on You Tube and other open sources. Still, at a time when new U.S. Ambassador to Russia Huntsman suggests that bi-lateral relations have reached a new low, now seems to an appropriate time to revisit the positive "Cold War" cooperation between Washington and the Kremlin that helped conquer the polio epidemic.
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Poll conducted

  1. In your opinion, what are the US long-term goals for Russia?
    U.S. wants to establish partnership relations with Russia on condition that it meets the U.S. requirements  
     33 (31%)
    U.S. wants to deter Russia’s military and political activity  
     30 (28%)
    U.S. wants to dissolve Russia  
     24 (22%)
    U.S. wants to establish alliance relations with Russia under the US conditions to rival China  
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