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Big Books & Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller
Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

Can the U.S. get its relationship with Russia right?

A man speaks behind a podium.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a ceremony to receive credentials from foreign ambassadors at the Moscow Kremlin's Alexander Hall, in Moscow, on Nov. 24, 2020.
Alexey Nikolsky | Sputnik | AFP via Getty Images

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President Joe Biden is sharply reversing course on Russia. Last week, in a speech at the Munich Security Conference, the president declared that Trump-era “America First” diplomacy is over, and he renewed calls to restore relationships with key allies. 

“Democracy doesn’t happen by accident,” Biden said. “We have to defend it.”

But one of the trickiest relationships for the new administration to navigate might be with a non-ally: Russia. U.S. leaders have historically struggled to understand Russia’s complexities. And after four years in which the president fought with his own intelligence service over the best way to handle Russian President Vladimir Putin, a fresh start is needed. Where should America go from here?

Tuesday, MPR News host Kerri Miller asked two experts how the U.S. might try to get Russia right.

Guests:

  • Molly McKew is a foreign policy and strategy consultant.

  • Keith Gessen is a Russian-born American novelist and an assistant professor of journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

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