Resetting With Russia

The Heritage Foundation's Sally McNamara argues that the U.S. should "reset" relations with Russia only insofar as Russia makes all the concessions:

President Obama must also make clear that the United States will not bargain away U.S. support for NATO enlargement to include Georgia and Ukraine, or missile defenses in Europe in exchange for Russian cooperation on other issues, such as its negotiations to stop Iran's nuclear program.

This position doesn't seem quite tenable to me, it treats U.S. interests as an undifferentiated bloc that can't be prioritized. But isn't disarming Iran of greater interest to the U.S. than putting blood and treasure on the line to defend Georgia?

Writing in the American Interest (sub required), Michael Mandelbaum has a persuasive take on U.S.-Russian relations, acknowledging where our interests diverge, where we need to hold firm and which issues we need to be ready to concede - specifically, missile defense and NATO expansion.

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