U.S. Policy Toward Northeastern Europe: Report of an Independent Task Force

by Zbigniew Brzeziński

During the Cold War northeastern Europe was a strategic backwater and received relatively little attention in U.S. policy. However, since the end of the Cold War, the region has become an important focal point of U.S. policy. The Clinton administration has given northeastern Europe high priority and views the region as a laboratory for promoting closer regional cooperation and reknitting Europe—both East and West—into a more cohesive economic and political unit. Its policy has also been designed to reach out to Russia and to include Russia in regional cooperation arrangements in Northeastern Europe.The report endorses the general thrust of the administration's policy, especially its emphasis on enhancing regional cooperation in northeastern Europe and encouraging Russian participation in regional cooperative efforts. At the same time, the report recommends a number of steps to enhance the viability and effectiveness of the administration's policy. In particular, the report argues that the administration should differentiate between the Baltic states based on their performance, and should admit them into Euro-Atlantic institutions individually rather than as a group. The Task Force also recommends that the next round of enlargement include one Baltic state, provided that the state demonstrates the ability to meet the responsibilities of membership.The issue of Baltic membership, however, should not be the exclusive or central focus of U.S. strategy toward northeastern Europe. Rather, it should be an integral part of a broader, multifaceted policy designed to enhance regional cooperation and stability in the region. Finally, if its strategy is to succeed, the administration must develop stronger support for its policy, both within the Congress and among America's European allies, and devote more resources to implementing its policy.

85 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

About the author

Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski was a Polish-American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. Known for his hawkish foreign policy at a time when the Democratic Party was increasingly dovish, he is a foreign policy realist and considered by some to be the Democrats' response to Republican realist Henry Kissinger.

Major foreign policy events during his term of office included the normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China (and the severing of ties with the Republic of China), the signing of the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II), the brokering of the Camp David Accords, the transition of Iran to an anti-Western Islamic state, encouraging reform in Eastern Europe, emphasizing human rights in U.S. foreign policy, the arming of the mujaheddin in Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet-friendly Afghan government, increase the probability of Soviet invasion and later entanglement in a Vietnam-style war, and later to counter the Soviet invasion, and the signing of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties relinquishing U.S. control of the Panama Canal after 1999.

He was a professor of American foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a member of various boards and councils. He appeared frequently as an expert on the PBS program The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.