I know you all have probably been really looking forward to hearing my current event last week (Yeah, probably). But I was unable to present it due to unfortunate conflicts. So I apologize to those who were deeply upset with the delay of my presentation. I did it today if it makes you feel any better. And as you can probably tell, my article is "old". If you don't like it, there's always another more current current event you can respond to. You have freedom of choice, so that's nice.
My article was about how Russia is important for future foreign policies for the U.S. President Obama has goals of stopping Iran's nuclear program, stopping the situation in Syria, and reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world. Russia is an important factor if these goals are to be achieved or not. The U.S. and Russia did sign a pact two years ago to reduce each side's number of nuclear arms. The Russian President at the time was Dmitry Medvedev, and now it is Vladimir Putin.
The article also mentioned that China has been a problem for the U.N. when they tried to place sanctions on Iran. They just found ways to trade with them without violating the sanctions. China is also Iran's top trading partner and they have many economic and security reasons to be doing this. China, along with Russia, has also rejected measures that would have dealt diplomatic blows to Syria. Experts have said that if Russia continues to back Syria, it will hurt them in the long run in that area. They have also said that Russia would not like to see a "nuclear Iran".
(Here's the article --> http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/dotmil/2012/05/16/putins-russia-is-pivotal-for-future-us-foreign-policy)
My question is: Do you think Russia will eventually go along with the U.N.'s actions and what should the U.S. do to sort of nudge them in that direction?
I believe that Russia will eventually go along with the U.N.'s actions to reduce their nuclear weapon arsenal. The United States needs to come up with a strategy to push Russia to decrease intrest in increasing their nuclear arsenal. The United States should take diplomatic steps to persuade Russia to reduce their nuclear arsenal before considering any type of coersion. The best strategy available for the United States is diplomatic negotiations. The article did mention that Russia does not want to arm Iran with nuclear weapons and President Obama hopes to reduce nuclear weapon arsenals largley around the world and especially in countries that were conflicting during the Cold War. Russia will eventually join the U.N. to avoid supporting Iran becoming a nuclear threat and with proper United States diplomacy.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Greg that Russia will eventually go along with the U.N.'s actions. People, or countries generally learn from their mistakes and I think Russia will realize what could happen if they back up Iran. Nuclear War was in Russia's past, and they saw what affect it had not only on the U.S., but also on a Global level. To push Russia to do the right thing, I agree with Greg that we need to use diplomacy. If we can continue to have good relations with Russia, then we might be able to show them the catastrophic affect that nuclear arms in Iran could cause. The U.S. can't be too forceful because we want Russia to do the right thing but without pushing them too far.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kayla and Greg as well. I do think Russia will eventually go along with the U.N.'s actions because as the article stated, they do not want to see a "nuclear Iran". Russia will reduce their nuclear weapons in fear of not wanting to arm Iran in order to cease them as being a threat. In order for this to happen I do think that the U.S. should get involved to nudge Russia in the right direction. In doing so, the U.S. needs to be careful and find a balance between being too pushy and being too nonchalant, due to dealing with such a serious/potentially very destructive issue. As Kayla and Greg both said, the U.S's best option in persuading is diplomacy and try to aid with the negotiation between Russia and the U.N
ReplyDeleteI agree with Greg, Kayla, and Andrea. Like Greg said, the United States needs to try to limit Russia's nuclear weapons, but this will not be easy for our country. Trying to persuade a country to limit their nuclear weapons, in order for our country's benefit will be a hard negotiation/persuasion for President Obama to commute to the leaders of Russia. Eventually, Russia will side with U.N.'s actions because they don't want Iran to break out their nuclear weapons. I do feel that Russia will limit their nuclear arms out of fear of forth coming war from Iran.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that Russia will eventually go along with U.N. I believe that the wouldn't want to turn a smaller thing into a huge conflict. But then again they might not want to cooperate and wont back down. I also believe that the U.S. should have minimum involvement right now, but as the situation gets worse and more threatening then there should be more involvement. If the situation ever gets threatening to the U.S. then is OK to get really involved.
ReplyDeleteRussia will eventually agree with the UN, it is only a matter of time. However, if we want them to agree sooner rather than later, we can impose trade restrictions on Syria so no trade can be done until the conflict is over. That lets any country stay neutral if they so choose, because they can't supply either side. It also leaves room to get involved if we need to because we can help whichever side agrees with the just war theory.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates so far but I think that Russia will take a while to succumb to this idea because I don’t think that any country wants to reduce their nuclear power. Having more nuclear power in this day and age is a very important thing because nuclear bombs can take out huge regions of people and cause massive destruction; however, having nuclear power gives that country more power because people are intimidated and scarred to get involved with a country with such nuclear force. I agree with Crystal though about Russia eventually giving in out of fear of Iran getting nuclear power if Russia continues to back Syria. Also if Russia accepted the pact for the reduction of nuclear arms, it may give China a little push to accept it as well.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the past comments, Russia will eventually agree with the U.N. I also agree with Andrea in saying that Russia will reduce their nuclear weapon amount in fear of not wanting to arm Iran in order to cease them of being a threat. I think that the US has to be careful if they do want to get involved. If they are whiling to get involved the US needs to be careful of being to pushy or too laid back about it.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Russia will eventualy agree to the terms of the U.N> for the negative trade offs wouldnt be worth it if they didnt. Like Laurer said it will take a while becaue the country will not want to give uyp power by reducing nueclear weapons. If other countries like the US have nuclear weapons Russia will also want to have them just in case. Like Kevin said it would be better if they agreed sooner rather then later but that idea probably will not happen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren and think that it may take a while for Russia to succumb to the idea. I don't think they are going to stop their nuclear program just because Obama wants them to. Nuclear weapons are common for countries to have now because most of the world has the technology to make them. Countries will not want to give up these weapons because then it would leave opposing countries with the advantage. We can hope that this policy falls through but it most likely will not.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lauren. I definitely think it is going to take a while for Russia to agree with the UN's plan to reduce nuclear weapons throughout the world. However, once Russia does agree, I think it will definitely push other countries to do the same thing. In order to convince Russia to reduce their nuclear power, I think the US is going to have to make some kind of move to show Russia this has to be done. I'm not quite sure what that would be but Russia is going to need something to convince them. Like Lauren said, no one wants to get rid of nuclear weapons because then they lose a lot of power; they won't be feared as much without those nuclear weapons.
ReplyDeleteI feel that Russia is going to try to hold on to any and all nuclear weapons because they have before and still do really like having power. I don't feel that they are going to give it up because that is what they have to be protected. They know that no one is going to get to involved because they are in fear of the nuclear weapons.
ReplyDeletei agree with john, because I feel that russia has well represented itself as a country that likes to keep power and is very proud of itself. Joining the UN, wouldn't make them any less proud, but they probably like having the strong hand and being able to say no. Also Russia doesn't always believe in being peaceful; more so forceful. I don't believe there is anything America could do that Russia would listen to, except ,maybe warfare, which would be anti beneficial if they had a war to make them join a peaceful union. but hey, #yolo
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