Strobe Talbott

Strobe Talbott was appointed deputy secretary of state in 1994 by President Bill Clinton. A former Time magazine editor and author of several books on the Soviet Union, Talbott has been the leading architect of U.S. foreign policy toward Russia and other former Soviet states. In the following viewpoint, taken from testimony given before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September 1999, Talbott defends the Clinton administration’s record on U.S.-Russian relations. He believes the United States should continue to engage Russia, encourage its leaders to undertake democratic and capitalist reforms, and cooperate with them in nuclear arms control and other issues. By improving relations with Russia, the United States has enhanced its own national security, he concludes.

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