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US analysts: â€œUS presidential candidates must pay more attention to the sphere of Russian influence, such as South Caucasus and Central Asiaâ€

16 November 2011 08:37 (UTC +04:00)

Next week, the Republican presidential candidates will come together to discuss their foreign policy and national security programs. Some analysts in Washington DC believe that the US should remember the lessons from the fall of the USSR, but it should also look ahead to the challenges that remain in Russia and around the world today.

Experts at the Heritage Foundation conference â€œLegacies and Lessons from the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the USSRâ€ on Tuesday, November 15, also said the reasons for the USSR’s collapse are many, ranging from its mania for top-down economic control, to its oppression of its own people, to its efforts to hold an empire in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, to the courage and leadership of Russian dissidents and Western leaders.

â€œWhile the Soviet Union looked strong, it was in reality weak. If the West stood up to it, and forced it to confront its own inability to feed and listen to its people, the flaws inherent in its tyrannical regime would be revealedâ€, said Richard Pipes, Baird Professor Emeritus of History at the Harvard University.

Other analysts, David Satter and Mike Gonzalez from the Heritage Foundation, mentioned that former Soviet republics, such as Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan and others are still under pressure from Russia, and the US will have to become involved, because they are key logistical links to Afghanistan.