While U.S.-Russia relations strain amidst continuing elections protests in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other cities, the State Department swore in Michael McFaul as the new U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation. McFaul replaces John Beyrle as the first non-career diplomat to become Ambassador to Moscow in three decades.

McFaul is known as an outspoken yet diplomatic critic of Russia’s authoritarianism and specialist on democracy and Russian elections. Under the Obama Administration, he was the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Russian and Eurasian Affairs on the National Security Council, and he has become best known in the recent past as the architect of the U.S.-Russia “Reset” strategy.

McFaul’s swearing in came in mid-December after Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) lifted his hold on the process. Kirk initially blocked McFaul’s nomination over concern that, with McFaul as Ambassador, the White House might share missile defense information with Russia without congressional approval. Kirk lifted his hold, however, after receiving a letter of reassurance from the administration and after new language was added to the defense authorization bill, requiring the administration to inform congress of its plans to share sensitive information with Russia 60 days in advance.

During this process, Russian commentators have had time to speak out concerning McFaul’s nomination as U.S. Ambassador to Russia. Many traditional media accounts have remained neutral on the matter, citing only the facts, and the pro-Kremlin Twitterverse has taken a typically antagonistic stance (primarily via Duma deputies Konstantin Rykov @rykov and Robert Shlegel @Shlegel). Reactions from many pundits, however, have, on the whole, been positive.

According to the Washington Post, the president of the Moscow-based think tank Institute for Strategic Assessments, Alexander Konovalov, sees McFaul as an “ideal choice” thanks to the latter’s deep understanding of Russian politics. A decision to give the post to a Russia specialist, according to Konovalov, demonstrates that Washington “pays serious attention to Russian politics.” In Kommersant, political pundit Igor Zevelev similarly sees the nomination as significant for U.S.-Russia relations, pointing to McFaul’s background as State Department outsider as a welcome change in the embassy. Indeed, McFaul’s various experiences should, according to RIA Novosti analyst Dmitry Babich, allow for “creative solutions” to problems between the nations.

Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) pundit Artem Malgin sees McFaul’s appointment as an attempt to reinvigorate the faltering “Reset” strategy and to improve the status of the role of Ambassador to Moscow. However, Moscow Carnegie Center Director Aleksey Malashenko notes that this does not mean making concessions to the Kremlin. While McFaul may be considered the “Father of the Reset,” Malashenko points out that he is also a member of “the Democratic Party and will devote attention to human rights,” which “will be a fairly unpleasant factor for Moscow.”

McFaul’s connections to opposition groups have not gone unnoticed by writer and political scientist Igor Panarin, who, in a column published in Reuters, says that McFaul will not remain on the sidelines but will actively attempt to influence Russia’s upcoming presidential election. Panarin believe that McFaul will use his ties to democracy advocates and opposition leaders to fine-tune the political technologies tested during the Arab Spring in an attempt to prevent a third term for Vladimir Putin.

Indeed, Russian authorities have already criticized McFaul for meeting with opposition figures in his second day on the job. However, while the Ambassador has managed to create ties with Russian human rights activists and opposition leaders in the past, James Collins, a former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, posits that the McFaul’s new mandate will most likely be to continue the “Reset” under the next Russian leadership, not abandon it.

On the other hand, in an article in Russia’s popular online Snob Project, (funded by presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov and one of Russia’s most popular blogs according to Yandex.ru), columnist Ksenia Semenova points out that, while McFaul claims “our style is not shake our finger to dictate to and threaten others,” things might not need come to this, for Russia’s protests movements are demonstrating frustration with their government without outside help.

While America might otherwise like to take an active role in promoting collective action and democracy in Russia, right now it might be able to simply sit back and watch it happen on its own. Given McFaul’s expertise in Russian politics, his appointment demonstrates the seriousness with which the United States currently views Russia. The variety of responses from Russia demonstrates that Russians are watching McFaul’s moves closely and anxiously as well during this turbulent time.

Possibly related posts:

1. Freight One Auction: Russian Privatization Chugging Along
2. Biden’s “Building on the Reset” Tour
3. The Russian Government Will Take Science and Technology Under Its Wing
4. Russian and CIS IPOs Ready to Rebound? PBN’s New IPO TRACKER Identifies 48 Potential Russian and CIS IPOs in 2010-15
5. Georgia-Russia WTO Talks

Ambassador · elections · McFaul · reset · Russia

2 comments

<< Nur Otan Wins Kazakhstan’s Parliamentary Elections. What Comes Next?

“Can’t I Just Buy it Online?” >>