US-Russian Relations Face Future Strain
In nine days, President-elect Donald Trump will inherit a strained political relationship between the U.S. and Russia. The two countries’ ties in recent weeks have been exacerbated by confirmed Russian interference in the U.S. presidential elections.
As corroborated by a joint CIA, FBI and NSA investigation, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, made direct orders to interfere in our election.
This was never a witch-hunt. This wasn’t support for one candidate over the other. This was a direct and active interference with American Democracy. This wasn’t meddling with the votes, this was meddling with the people.
This was a direct and active interference with American Democracy. This wasn’t meddling with the votes, this was meddling with the people.
And an act like that simply cannot be ignored. Our response can’t be, as Trump has suggested, to just work toward preventing foreign meddling in the future. We must punish Russia now, for their violation of our election.
We do not know and we may never know the extent of Russia’s influence in this past election. But whatever the extent, the result will remain the same. Russia got its way. That’s all that matters here. Russia wanted Donald Trump to be the president of the United States, and Trump they got. This begs the horrific question, what does it mean to have a U.S. President indebted to a foreign leader — especially one as important and controversial as Vladimir Putin?
This conflict of interest could and will manifest itself in a number of ways. Generally speaking, it will contribute to a quagmire between U.S. and Russian relations that could weaken the Trump administration and the United States as a whole.
In short, the election hackings create a direct contradiction for Trump. If he continues with his pro-Russian rhetoric and works with Putin to ally our two countries, he essentially invites and encourages foreign influence in U.S. Elections. If he breaks from his promise and condemns Putin’s influence in the election, he looks weak and falters on a number of other policy promises (mainly working with Russia against ISIS).
The answer is easy — punish Putin. For Trump, however, Russia’s actions have a deeply personal flair. Putin’s influence in the election was undeniably a blessing for Trump. The big question is how he will react when his administration takes over on the 20th. Will Trump see Putin’s meddling as a token of trust? Will he backpedal on Obama’s sanctions against Russia? Will he do the right thing and reinforce the sanctions and confront Russia’s interference for what it is, an act of war.
Either way, Trump’s already sitting comfortably in the palm of Vladimir Putin. Whatever Trump does, whether it’s condemn or forgive Russia, will be on the defensive. Putin is already moving him around like a pawn before Trump’s even in office.
The situation gets even more complicated though. According to a recent New York Times article, we see Russia unexpectedly aiding Turkey in the fight on ISIS. Not only could this new partnership push the U.S. out of decision making on the future of the region, it also manipulates us. If Trump wants to fight ISIS (like he’s made clear he wants to), he’s now going to be forced to do it with Russia at his side.
As discussed, that kind of U.S., Russian partnership means setting a precedent for foreign meddling in our elections. Therefore, if Trump wants to fight ISIS, he has to partner with Russia, and partnering with Russia means accepting Russia’s meddling in the election.
Of course that’s easy for Trump to do. It was the meddling that landed him in the White House in the first place. It’s easy to forgive someone who helped you win.
But the problems with cozying up to Russia doesn’t stop at accepting foreign interference in our elections. Befriending Russia means coming to terms with its annexation of Crimea and its unfounded love for the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Trump’s conflict of interest between Putin and America will surely cause a headache for the country during the first few months of the new administration.
If nothing else, one thing is for certain; we can’t forgive Russia for hacking our election. Let’s just hope Trump realizes that before he cuddles up too close with Putin.