Stephen Sestanovich

In the following viewpoint, Stephen Sestanovich examines and finds wanting the argument that Russia is a potentially dangerous and expansionist nation bent on subjugating its neighbors. A closer examination reveals that neither Russia’s people nor their leaders are motivated to engage in imperialist ventures for reasons of prestige, he contends. At the time this article was first published, Stephen Sestanovich was vice president for Russian and Eurasian affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. In 1997 he was appointed ambassador at large to the countries that comprised the former Soviet Union.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What four propositions are asserted by what Sestanovich calls the “geotherapists”?
2. What events of the 1996 presidential election does the author use to support his thesis that the...