On April 27 and 28 Washington will host the 28th annual World Russia Forum. The first Forum took place back in 1981; now it already seems something of history books. At the time it was convened in defense of Academician Andrei Sakharov, who was then languishing in exile in Gorky. By now the Russia Forum, an annual event in the U.S. capital has long since become an influential discussion venue for exploring topical issues in U.S.-Russia relations. However, its founder and organizer Edward Lozansky, president of the American University in Moscow, told Vremya novostei observer Arkady Dubnov that as he spoke at the opening ceremony of the event, he invariably recalled how the whole thing had started.
E.L.: On 21 May, 1981 Andrei Sakharov marked his 60th birthday, and we decided that a conference to discuss both his own lot and that of numerous other political prisoners in the Soviet Union would make a perfect birthday present for him.
A.D.: Did you have the good fortune to have met Andrei Sakharov personally?
E.L.: I was at one time an undergraduate at the Moscow Physics Engineering Institute and attended the seminars at the Academy of Sciences Physics Institute (FIAN) where Sakharov gave talks. The seminars were quite famous at the time, but there was a sizable gap between our respective positions and age… So I saw him, sure, but we never really met. We did meet eventually, but a good deal later, after his return from exile, during Perestroika, when I was allowed back in Moscow in 1988. Twelve years previously I emigrated to the U.S. following accusations of anti-Soviet activities. Next year I brought with me my American friend Sheldon Lee Glashow, a Nobel Prize winner in Physics from Harvard. When we arrived in Moscow I took him to the Physics Institute where we met Sakharov and talked both physics and politics.
A.D.: At present Academician Sakharov’s name is not often brought up in Russia. Given the list of Russian participants in the Forum it seems unlikely that any one of them will refer to him in their speeches.
E.L.: Well, we are not Soviet historians, we do not intend to rewrite history. Although Sakharov has always been in the minority, as all dissidents usually are, back then his was a household name, he was our banner in the struggle against the totalitarian regime. It is true that we no longer often make use of his name today, but we always remind Forum participants how it all began. Presently the Forum primarily focuses on the issues of today. This year, in the wake of the Obama-Medvedev meeting, there is some hope that U.S.-Russia relations, which recently practically hit rock bottom just like in Soviet times, can be redirected into a more positive avenue. So the Forum is named accordingly, The Way Forward.
A.D.: And what was the previous Forum’s name?
E.L.: Toward an Economic, Political and Military Alliance. All Forums in one way or another center round the task of making Russia and America allies, not just partners. Otherwise we will never cope with the global problems of the 21st century. This may seem a bit of a pipe dream, but I am convinced that one should set oneself lofty goals.
A.D.: The favorite toast of all Soviet human rights activists has been, “Let us drink to the success of our hopeless cause!”
E.L.: True, but when dissidents said that they had no idea how close they were to seeing their dreams fulfilled… We yearned to free Russia from communism and enter the space of freedom and democracy. And even though today’s Russia still falls short of being a model within that space, it has made a tremendous leap forward, away from the Soviet past. So have the U.S.-Russian relations. Things are not nearly as hopeless there as one may imagine. If we persist in treading on each other’s toes, it’ll be a no-win situation.
A.D.: But there is a different point of view. Rapprochement is out of the question because it goes counter to Russia’s historic mission—or else hinders the U.S. in performing its universal role in the world.
E.L.: This leaves me undaunted. As I said we have always been in the minority but I sincerely believe in the cause. And if you look at the agendas of the previous forums and this year’s, you will see that there are perfectly worthy individuals who share my views: ex-U.S. ambassadors to Moscow Thomas Pickering and William Burns, currently Under Secretary of State, prominent scholars and political scientists like Marshall Goldman, Andrew Kuchins, Robert Legwold, and many others. They subscribe to the Forum’s goals, otherwise they would not be taking part in it.
A.D.: Would you say the current Forum is fundamentally different in this respect, in terms of personalities, from the previous ones that took place during the Putin-Bush era?
E.L.: If anything it is even more representative. Normally we get senators and congressmen while government officials typically stay away, because even if they happen to share the Forum’s objectives, they cannot say so publicly without putting the position of the U.S. administration in doubt. This year, for example, William Burns, a key figure in the current administration, will be a keynote speaker and many government agencies are sending their observers, the most numerous group from Pentagon.
A.D.: Will they be in mufti?
E.L.: (Laughing) Some are bound to be in uniform… Last year we had none other than Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, at that time a director of Missile Defense Agency, speaking. But the numbers of such officials have always been limited, while this year they are suddenly coming in droves. So they must be aware of certain changes in the White House, the order to “reset” is working.
A.D.: That is to say you feel no overloading, and it indeed looks rather like resetting, and no mistake, unlike in the legend on the red button that Hillary Clinton gave to Sergei Lavrov?
E.L.: In any case that is the situation in Washington; I do not know about Russia. Here the anti-Russia lobby has somehow receded into the background. Over the last two months there have been almost weekly round tables on the relations between Russia and America, and more often than not the atmosphere has been positive. Of course, there are still cold war warriors around who believe that resetting is harmful to U.S. interests and Russia should be dealt with harshly. However, they are precious few now, while before they were quite numerous…
A.D.: Mimicry perhaps?
E.L.: Could be. But unlike them we have never gone in for opportunism and have always believed achievement of strategic partnership between Russia and the United States to be the main point of the Forum.
