Troubled International Waters

July 14, 2006

Today, President Bush arrives in Russia for this weekend's G-8 summit, an informal group of the world's leading industrialized nations. It will be the first time the annual meeting, which began in 1975, will be held in a country without a free press. Unlike recent summits, this year's summit will put aside long-term issues of global warming and poverty, and focus on hot-button issues such as North Korea, Iran, Iraq, and the Middle East. "It's a crisis-ridden summit," said John Kirton, director of the University of Toronto's G-8 research group. This one promises to be big on promises and short on results.

Freedom of the press in Russia has steadily gotten worse. "Five years ago, President Bush looked into Vladimir Putin's eyes and thougThe U.S. reliance on Russia in international affairs is growing. With defiant uranium enrichment by Iran, recent missile tests by North Korea, increased tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, and surging sectarian violence in Iraq, this year's G-8 summit will likely focus on current foreign policy crises. The need for Russia's support on these fronts has already forced the Bush administration to accede to numerous Kremlin demands, including clearing the way "for Russia to get into the lucrative business of storing spent nuclear fuel, despite long-standing U.S. concerns about the safety of facilities in Russia." This reliance on Russia comes as the U.S.-Russia relationship is strained. "The U.S.-Russia relationship today is as bad as it's been at any point in the last 15 years," says Steven Pifer, who in 2004 stepped down as the State Department's top diplomat on Russia.


Soldiers in the field would welcome a new system. Our soldiers on the ground, who "have never been sure it was a requirement" to follow the Geneva Conventions, will be better off with a system based on the UCMJ and Geneva. "It sets the philosophic tone for our soldiers and Marines," said one former Marine Corps infantry commander. "I think commanders in the field will see it positively — they see the value of complying with the law of war," said Col. David Wallace, West Point law professor. "It's not seen as an impediment to mission performance."