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Excerpt from Challenges Posed by Russia to United States National Security Interests: Committee on National Security House of Representatives One Hundred Fourth Congress Second Session, Hearings Held June 13, 1996 The committee met, pursuant to call, at 9:30 a. m., in room 2118, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Floyd Spence (chairman of the committee) presiding. Opening Statement Of Hon. Floyd Spence, A Representative From South Carolina, Chairman, Committee On National Security The Chairman. The meeting will please be in order. This morning the committee continues its series of hearings on the nature of the post-cold-war world and the strategic challenges facing the United States. Today our focus will be on Russia, "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma," as Winston Churchill put it. Although Churchill was speaking of the Soviet Union, his words are still appropriate in describing post-Soviet Russia. On the eve of the Russian elections, we would do well to focus on the security challenges Russia will continue to pose to America - regardless of who wins this weekend. In recent years, the United States has tried to transform Russia from a former enemy into a friend, ally, even strategic partner. We have enjoyed some modest successes, generally when mutual interests were readily served. But lately, the prospects for partnership have dimmed. Russia is violently opposed to NATO expansion, to the point of raising the threat of renewed nuclear tensions. Boris Yeltsin has waged a bloody and bitter war in Chechnya, extending a pattern of Russian suppression, subversion, and intervention from the Caucasus through Central Asia. Russia has, since last November, been in violation of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe, and is on the verge of getting relief from treaty limits to increase its military presence in those flank areas where New Independent States are seeking to chart a course independent of Moscow. Several months ago, just days after an apparently cordial meeting with President Clinton, Mr. Yeltsin visited Beijing to announce a Russian-Chinese "strategic partnership" - a partnership which the Russian Defense Minister subsequently described as essentially anti-Western. Hard-line nationalists and unreconstructed Communists have dominated press reports about Russian politics, and one Communist - Mr. Zyuganov, may replace Yeltsin as Russias next leader. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Challenges Posed by Russia to United States National Security Interests: Committee on National Security House of Representatives One Hundred Fourth Congress Second Session, Hearings Held June 13, 1996 In recent years, the United States has tried to transform Russia from a former enemy into a friend, ally, even strategic partner. We have enjoyed some modest successes, generally when mutual inter ests were readily served. But lately, the prospects for partnership have dimmed. Russia is violently opposed to nato expansion, to the point of raising the threat of renewed nuclear tensions. Boris Yeltsin has waged a bloody and bitter war in Chechnya, extending a pattern of Russian suppression, subversion, and intervention from the Caucasus through Central Asia. Russia has, since last November, been in vio lation of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe, and is on the verge of getting relief from treaty limits to increase its military presence in those flank areas where New Independent States are seeking to chart a course independent of Moscow. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Witness testimony and prepared statements presented in the June 1996 hearing before the Committee on National Security, House of Representatives, examine post-Soviet Russia and its implications for U.S. national security. Principal witnesses include Clifford G. Gaddy, The Brookings Institute and author; Richard Pipes, former Assistant to President Reagan for National Security Affairs and Director of Russian Policy at the National Security Council and professor of history at Harvard Univ.; and Ambassador James R. Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence.

Organized crime in Russia has a direct, negative impact on the national security interests of the United States. The U.S. national security interests in Russia include regional stability, development of a free market based economy and control of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These interests are best served by a viable, democratic government in Russia. With the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia began a movement toward democracy. However, the powerful forces of organized crime within Russia and its grip on the domestic economy, is impeding its progress. International solutions to this challenge include greater cooperation among western nations to stem the flow of illegal money and material out of Russia. For its part the United States is developing closer law enforcement ties with the Russian Ministry of Interior. The Federal Bureau of Investigation opened an office in Moscow. Future efforts must be focused on the mutual development of criminal intelligence in order to identify, arrest, and successfully prosecute Russian organized crime figures. In addition the products, goods, and services which Russian organized crime provides to the Russian people must be produced and delivered through the legal Russian market.