Is the impending expulsion of two U.S. military officers from Moscow linked to the parade?
A2: We need to know more about it, but this tit for tat occurs occasionally. While researching U.S.-Russian military relations back in summer 2001, I interviewed U.S. military officers in Moscow who had just been informed they would be expelled. These expulsions come with the territory and have nothing to do with the work of a specific officer. So an explanation that is linked to the Victory Day parade and Russian nationalism seems overdetermined. Certainly, there is plenty of evidence of Russian nationalism, and even support for Joseph Stalin. But this expulsion is but one sign among many that U.S.-Russian relations are far from cozy 17 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Sarah E. Mendelson directs the Human Rights and Security Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Critical Questions is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy
