Fletcher-MGIMO Conference on U.S.-Russia Relations

Russian Federation. Bilateral relations remained unsettled after the Cold War. The relationship has deteriorated even further over the past decade and was recently described by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as "at an all-time low point since the end of the Cold War, with a very low level of trust.” The public and political discourses in both countries are hostile and uncompromising.
The first step in managing relations, however, is to make account of the actual scope of disagreement through examining specific issues on which preferences of the parties diverge or clash. The aim of the conference, therefore, is to identify differences between the Russian Federation and United States in major areas, in which both sides have identifiable interests and substantial potential for action. These areas include contrasting narratives about the post-Cold War era, the accepted boundaries of national sovereignty, differing interpretations of international law, the situation in the Euro-Atlantic, Middle Eastern, and Asia-Pacific regions, as well as mutual suspicion regarding interference by the other side in its domestic politics. The conference is part of a larger, multiyear, overarching project on the bilateral relationship, sponsored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.