This June was characterized by a historic summit for humanity that involved two of the world’s most influential people: Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin. The tension between the two global powers has barely decreased as evidenced by a web of punitive sanctions against Russia, diplomatic expulsions, ongoing ransomware attacks, and frequently repeated grievances. We asked several international development experts to share their opinions on the Biden-Putin meeting. Check their answers below.
How do you characterize the Biden-Putin meeting and how might it impact the international community?
“The Biden-Putin summit was necessary and a welcome step for most observers despite the fact that nothing revolutionary resulted from it. That the meeting took place is a positive sign to the world that communication channels remain open between strategic rivals who are at odds on a wealth of issues. Biden’s illustrations of the “red lines” for the U.S., particularly around cybersecurity, were expected and show he intends to take a stronger stance than his predecessor, raising the stakes for both sides around unconventional warfare. For most areas of concern around this bilateral relationship, deterrence and leveraging alliances will remain the U.S. approach. This signals a continuation of the approach of shoring up an “alliance of democracies” against strategic rivals like Russia and China. However, the U.S. belief that strategic rivals can cooperate on key areas like climate change plays to the optimistic view that inroads can be made in a broader relationship through cooperation on specific urgent global issues. While an era of globalization makes it necessary for strategic rivals to attempt cooperation on key issues, it remains to be seen whether the U.S. and others will be able to establish and maintain such sectoral cooperation should relationships deteriorate or red lines be ignored.”
“Biden and Putin agreed to very minor steps towards arms control and restoring diplomatic relationships. The fact the two world leaders met for the world to see is a step in the right direction towards healing and reconciliation. However, trust between the two countries starts behind the scenes where the true political process happens without the cameras present and requires honesty, integrity, ethics, and respect. Much of the mistrust between the U.S. and Russia arises from each country blaming the other for cyber-attacks, sanctions, divisive political rhetoric, and differences between the US engagement internationally and how the Kremlin uses its powers. Many experts including myself do not believe the United States of America and Russia will ever agree politically. The US and Russia have both lost international relationships due to their controversial political history. The US-Russia meeting shows the rest of the world that dialogue is a better path towards human security and development. According to the Wall Street Journal, many world leaders such as the Germany Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, believe the European Union should also be speaking with President Vladimir Putin to create forums of dialogue. As of now, the majority of the European Union do not want to have leadership summit diplomacy meetings with President Putin. For at least a decade, Russia will have a difficult time meeting with some leading countries of the world. However, I believe that Vladimir Putin could change his narrative if he requests reconciliation and private meetings internationally. Globally, the US has given Russia positive news and should run with the press and meet with other world leaders.”
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