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Event Recap: Oleg Kalinskiy, Russia and the US in the Current Environment

Oleg Kalinskiy: Russia and the US in the Current Environment
November 21, 2017

Twenty one years ago, when communist candidate Gennady Zyuganov took 32% of the vote in the first round of the 1996 Russian presidential election, the main question in American policy circles was “who is responsible for losing Russia?” Now, according to Dr. Oleg Kalinskiy, the question is “who is responsible for the fact that we almost lost each other?” 

Dr. Kalinskiy is currently the Director of Government Relations at Uralkali, one of the major global potash producers, and Professor of Economics at the National Technological University of Steel and Alloys in Moscow. In the past, he has held a number of positions in both the private and public sector, acting also as an intermediary between governmental authorities and civic associations. 

On November 6, Dr. Kalinskiy discussed the potential for a cooperative relationship between Russia and the United States at the MacMillan Center. In his view, the issue today is that “politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are too focused on short-term unilateral gains.” Kalinskiy advocates the “realpolitik approach”: recognizing that there are differences of opinion, and instead of arguing those differences, trying to build a case for a common agenda where interests coincide for the benefit of both Russia and the United States. This approach has yielded results in the past, specifically when in the 1970s Nixon’s and Kissinger’s overtures to the USSR and China led to improved relations.

The West’s use of sanctions against Russia has impeded the development of a cooperative relationship and is based in faulty thinking, according to Kalinskiy. He notes, “history shows that, when facing sanctions, leaders of a country use them to build up local support and promote stability”. In Russia, this has been exactly the case. “Nobody likes the sanctions, especially the big businesses, but they support the government’s agenda” says Kalinskiy. In fact, when dealing with their American counterparts, Russian businesses have tried to avoid political discussion and realize concrete projects for mutual benefit.  Kalinskiy also notes “Russian politicians today are also quite interested in business needs,” citing the example of the Minister of Industry, Denis Manturov, who is responsible for Russia’s import substitution policy, visiting the U.S.-Russia Business Council in October and speaking with major American companies. Cooperation can be achieved by focusing on concrete issues and exploring possibilities for bilateral cooperation.

To this end, the appointment of Rex Tillerson as U.S. Secretary of State was seen as a positive development in Russia: “He is a businessman, he’s been to Russia, he is open to new ideas and getting information from different sources. The most erroneous policy is made by those who don’t understand their partner.” Kalinskiy emphasizes the need for greater people-to-people interaction to improve the U.S.-Russia relationship. In his opinion, students who leave Russia to study in Europe or the U.S. should be motivated to return and work at home. Agreeing to disagree, acknowledging and respecting differences in opinion and abandoning loaded agendas is crucial to finding common ground. Especially in the U.S.-Russia relationship, where decades of the Cold War rivalry have left their mark on political culture and on collective memory.  Today focusing on areas for cooperation, not on points of conflict, is crucial to addressing key global issues such as international terrorism, state sovereignty, population growth, resource scarcity, etc.  ”You need to understand where others are coming from, both their rational and irrational part…[and] very often perception overshadows reality. When you act on perception, you act erroneously, because you don’t know the facts. Daniel Patrick Moynihan once remarked: “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts”. Today, we need to put energy into choosing facts to act upon and not perceptions”.


Written By Michelle Printsev, YC 2019, Berkeley College