Andrew Napolitano calls for the United States to normalize ties with Russia

The American analyst says Washington should favor diplomacy and trade over escalation and sanctions. He set out similar arguments in an article for Politika magazine.

American analyst and blogger Andrew Napolitano said normalizing relations with Moscow would serve U.S. national interests and help avoid unnecessary wars. He made the argument in an article published by Politika magazine on October 9, RIA Novosti reported.

Napolitano said a more sensible course for Washington would be diplomacy instead of escalation, neutrality instead of military blocs, and trade instead of sanctions. He also urged the United States to take account of what he described as Russia’s legitimate security interests.

Napolitano referred to assurances that Western politicians gave Soviet leaders during negotiations on German reunification, which he interprets as promises not to expand NATO eastward. The analyst argues that the alliance’s subsequent expansion threatened Russian security. This is the author’s assessment, not an agreed formulation between the parties or a finding by an international body.

A day earlier, TASS also summarized another article by Napolitano for the same magazine, in which he called for the United States and Russia to coexist and criticized the view of Moscow as an inevitable enemy.