According to James N. Class, assistant vice president of international affairs at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Russia’s acceptance into the World Trade Organization may be aided by pharmaceuticals.

During the Soviet era, Russia had a pharmaceutical industry that provided generic versions of Western drugs. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the status of these factories came into question. “You have 7,00 factories that need something to do,” said Class. While many of these factories failed to meet Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), then President Vladimir Putin made a 2004 statement in favor of meeting a better standard of GMP that put national treatment and WTO ascension on the table.

Research and development (R&D) for medicine has not yet been significantly affected by globalization, leaving the U.S. with 79.5% of the R&D market. However, Russia’s status as an emerging market can help draw R&D to the country, since populations without a history of heavy pharmaceutical use are considered better for clinical testing. Once clinical testing is brought to an emerging economy, it is possible to increase funding for academic research centers. An increase of R&D funding will benefit Russia by stimulating their industries, addressing security concerns, and by giving Russia the means to stop buying overpriced generics from other European countries Class explained.

Class concluded that there are several factors that are blocking Russia’s ascension to the WTO. The efforts have met with domestic resistance at home and the geopolitical situation with Georgia has stalled WTO Working Party meetings that would make the ascension possible. Still, there is a belief that meetings with the Working Party will resume in November, thus removing one of Russia’s obstacles.

Reevaluating Russia

According to military historian and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute Fredrick Kagan, the threat that Russia poses following the invasion of Georgia has been severely understated.

“This is a major problem. We have not seen an overt act of aggression by a major state, at least in the northern hemisphere, since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990, and I fear that this is not the end of it,”

Kagan says that the threat extends to all former Soviet nations are potentially at risk, citing a 27 percent increase in Russia’s military budget, a renewed attempt to create an all volunteer army, and three full scale army exercises within the past two months.

“What they are basically trying to do is to create a small American [sic] army that will have the capability to conventionally retake the Soviet Empire.”

Russia has also had numerous violations of international law beyond the invasion of South Ossetia, including interrogating prisoners of war and the systematically bombing the entire Georgian military complex. Kagan says that they declaration made by Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin that Russia has the right to intervene militarily in other countries to protect the lives and dignity of Russian citizens abroad is also a dangerous precedent in international law.

“That sets the bar for Russian intervention on the floor. There is no way that the Baltic states or Ukraine can behave in such a way that the Russians will never have the opportunity to say that the dignity of Russian citizens in those territories is not under attack…dignity in this context is a meaningless concept,” said Kagan.

Kagan says that a response is possible, and that the idea that the U.S. needs to maintain good relationships in order to have Russian help deter the Iranian nuclear threats is ungrounded.

“The Russians have never been helpful with the Iranian nuclear program, nor will they be helpful with the Iranian nuclear program, except in the sense that they are helping the Iranians to develop a nuclear program. What they will not do is help us to shut that program down.”

Military historian and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute Fredrick Kagan says that we do not need to maintain perfect relations with Russia in hopes of deterring the Iranian nuclear program, since Russia will support Iran either way (0:39).

 

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Military historian and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute Fredrick Kagan discusses what would happen if the U.S. took the same liberties as Russia and contends that the U.S. has allowed Russia to take de-facto sovereignty over former Soviet states (0:40).

 

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Pentagon Correspondent Dawn Casey will attend Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates’s honor cordon to welcome Denmark’s Minister of Defense Soren Gade. Legal Affairs Correspondent Jay Goodman Tamboli will cover the Supreme Court arguments in Altria v. Good dealing with lawsuits against tobacco companies. The Washington Bureau will also be covering the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s hearing on “The causes and effects of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy,” a discussion at the Woodrow Wilson Center on “North Ossetia’s geopolitical entanglements,” a protest by Vietnam veterans and Vietnam’s victims of Agent Orange to have the Supreme Court consider their lawsuit against chemical companies, a discussion at the Institute for Policy Studies on “War, peace, and the 2008 presidential race,” the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research’s discussion on “Beyond Georgia: Securing America’s allies on Russia’s periphery,” and an address by World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick on “Development and the implications from the global financial crisis.”

Amid domestic political turmoil and neighboring geopolitical conflict, speaking through a translator, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko addressed the country’s future plans for an independent and democratic Ukraine. Nearly two weeks ago, Ukraine’s ruling coalition collapsed, and last year at this time the parliamentary elections put in place an ‘orange’ coalition featuring an alliance between the Yushchenko’s party and the party of Prime Minister Julia Temeshinko. The recent Russian-Georgian conflict has caused international tension between Ukraine and Russia over the fact that Ukraine hosts Russia’s Black Sea fleet and the transportation of energy supplies between Russia and Europe.

In the context of the Russian-Georgian conflict and pro-Russian forces active in the Krimean area, Yushchenko said that he is ready to fight and protect his sovereign nation and determine it’s own defense and security policy. He strongly confirmed that his territory would never be used for any country to deploy nuclear weapons. Addressing the fears of communist presence in the government, Yushchenko did not understand how Prime Minister Temeshinko made their top partnership with communists because, he said, “there are no Ukrainian communists. These communists always represented interests of a different country.”

Yushchenko confirmed his support of NATO, saying it is “the best model to guarantee security in the (Ukraine’s) international coordinates”. The President continued to declare his plan for a democratic Ukraine and integration into the European Union under the Association Agreement. The Association Agreements would include a free trade area and a start to negotiations of visa free access between the EU and Ukraine.

Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns explains the future of US and Russian relations and explains that they may be strained.

 

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Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns explains the steps that the Bush administration has taken in dealing with Russian hostility.

 

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Combat may have ceased in Georgia, but in Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) view only one aspect of the conflict has been resolved.

“There are two ways to undermine, if not topple a democratic government. Either militarily, or by crushing and strangling the economy to make life so miserable, the mandate of the government comes into question,” Dodd said today during a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the consequences of Russia’s August invasion.

“Many expert observers believe that having failed in the first approach Russia now seems to have shifted towards the second.”

Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns addressed the committee’s concerns over the future of Georgia and Russia, the steps the Bush administration has taken, and the implications of the invasion that are still unfolding.

“We and our European partners have made clear there will be no business as usual with Russia… For our part the administration has withdrawn the 123 agreement on civil nuclear cooperation with Russia and suspended US-Russian bilateral military programs,” said Burns.

Questions were raised over the humanitarian response in Georgia. Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) described how President Bush initially said that the Department of Defense would be head the effort which was contradicted when Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said responsibility fell on the State Department.

“It’s a combined effort…the Defense Department took the early lead in moving humanitarian supplies to Georgia which was a natural step to take…but over time we have seen the state department taking the lead under Undersecretary Reuben Jeffrey and working with the Georgians to work on a long term plan for reconstruction,” replied Burns.

The committee also discussed whether there were any warning signs or actions that could have been taken to avoid hostilities.

“I honestly don’t think so. This is a crises and a set of tensions that has been building for some time…there were mistakes and miscalculations on all sides. We worked very hards both with the Russians and the Georgians government to urge restraint,” said Burns.

Deputy Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Paul A. Schneider describes how Russia used cyber attacks against Georgia. (0:23)

 

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