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Failed Reset?: United States Decries "Sovietization" Of Former Ussr

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  • Failed Reset?: United States Decries "Sovietization" Of Former Ussr

    FAILED RESET?: UNITED STATES DECRIES "SOVIETIZATION" OF FORMER USSR STATES

    Photo: State Department photo by Maxwell's

    By Naira Hayrumyan
    ArmeniaNow correspondent

    The statement by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that
    Washington will openly oppose Russia's attempts to re-integrate the
    post-Soviet countries into a new USSR-type union has caused a stir in
    the expert world.

    Clinton made the statement about this attempt to "re-sovietize" the
    former USSR space last week at a meeting of the OSCE Ministerial
    Council in Dublin, Ireland.

    "It's not going to be called that [USSR]. It's going to be called
    customs union, it will be called Eurasian Union and all of that," she
    said, referring to Russian-led efforts for greater regional
    integration. "But let's make no mistake about it. We know what the
    goal is and we are trying to figure out effective ways to slow down or
    prevent it."

    Armenia, as one of the allies of Russia that also has made noticeable
    progress it its relations with the European Union and the West in
    general, recently, is likely to adjust its foreign policy to this new
    reality as well.

    Following Clinton's statement, experts began to speak more definitely
    about the U.S. now reconsidering its 2009 "reset" policy in relations
    with Russia. The so-called Magnitsky list adopted in Washington also
    evidences increased U.S. pressure on Russia. According to this
    legislative act, the United States bans entry to the country to
    Russian officials who violate human rights.

    Russia, meanwhile, retaliated by passing a similar ban, and for
    greater assurance also introduced a ban on imports of meat from the
    United States. Washington is now likely to sue Russia at an
    international court for breaking the rules of the World Trade
    Organization that Moscow acceded to only this year.

    Apparently, the fight for the post-Soviet space between the West and
    Russia has entered its decisive phase. Everything will depend on 2013,
    when several former Soviet republics, including Armenia, are expected
    to sign association agreements and agreements on the establishment of
    free trade zones with the European Union.

    Moscow is trying to entice these republics to the Customs Union
    (currently comprised of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan) before such
    documents are signed. Apparently, this was the main issue raised
    during the Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Ashgabat,
    Turkmenistan, last week, which was followed by the top U.S. diplomat's
    statement. Officially, no statements were made after the summit, but
    Russian President Vladimir Putin must have demanded integration in
    stronger terms than he has done ever before.

    While some of the former Soviet states' leaders were meeting in
    Ashgabat, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia John Heffern traveled back home
    to persuade the Armenian-Americans to invest in Armenia. And Prime
    Minister Tigran Sargsyan went to Germany and then to the United States
    also for the purpose of soliciting investment.

    The U.S. appears to have decided to test the method of so-called
    "investment expansion" in Armenia. This method implies a large inflow
    of Western investment which would help not only transform the business
    culture in Armenia, which Washington appears to be unhappy with, but
    also prevent the "sovietization" of the South Caucasus country. Russia
    now is still the leader in terms of investments in Armenia, but this
    year the volumes of its investments have decreased.

    Now it is a guessing game for local analysts as to what President
    Serzh Sargsyan will decide in this respect. He is unlikely to change
    his European integration course before the presidential election that
    has been slated for February 18, as such a change of policy would
    deprive him not only of key support from the West, but also a weighty
    argument in the unfolding election campaign. It is not excluded that
    Sargsyan will build his whole campaign on the idea of European
    integration, and his main rival, Prosperous Armenia Party led by
    affluent businessman Gagik Tsarukyan known for his ties with Russia
    and some autocratic post-Soviet leaders, yields to Sargsyan in this
    respect.

    Andrew Weiss, who served as director for Russian, Ukrainian, and
    Eurasian Affairs on the National Security Council staff under U.S.

    President Bill Clinton and now heads the RAND Center for Russia and
    Eurasia, believes that elites in post-Soviet countries are "not in a
    rush" to give their sovereignty back to Moscow.

    It is obvious that in order to promote its "Eurasian integration"
    Moscow will use the "stick" because it does not have enough "carrots"
    even for itself, and especially that the "carrots" in the West taste
    better. Meanwhile, the West seems to have set itself the task of
    stopping Moscow from intimidating former Soviet republics into taking
    action for reintegration. In this context Clinton's statement means
    that the West is ready to defend the post-Soviet countries from
    Russian encroachments.

    http://armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/41807/usa_against_ussr_clinton_armenia_relations_russia




    From: A. Papazian
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