START ratification failure will not completely reverse the progress in U.S.-Russia relations
Robert Legvold, the Director of Soviet Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, assesses the impact of the recent Congressional elections in the USA on the future of Russia-U.S. relations. Q: The first question is how the Republican gains in the Congressional elections will impact Russian-U.S. relations? Legvold: I think that’s uncertain. The first and most important issue is ratification of the follow-on START I agreement, and the likelihood is that it will be taken up in the so-called lame duck session, that is between now and the new year when the new Congress is inaugurated, which means that during that period the Senate remains the same as it is today. And my understanding is that the administration feels it has worked out most of the compromises necessary to get ratification. If, however, the shadow of the election, the implications of this surge to the Republican side, affects that psychology and the Republicans in the Senate begin to re-examine whatever the arrangeme...