At Harvard, intelligence group analyzes U.S.-Russia relations
Even as the special counsel’s office prosecutes 12 Russian military intelligence officers for allegedly interfering in America’s 2016 election, and the U.S. Treasury imposes more sanctions on Russia over human rights abuses and illegal economic activity in Crimea, Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are seeking new opportunities to work together. In other words, the state of U.S.-Russia relations is decidedly complicated. That’s why a small group of analysts from the Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) and some of their retired U.S. military and intelligence colleagues gather each year with their Russian counterparts to try to work through pressing matters in both countries, like national security, nuclear arms control, conflict in the Middle East, and the expansion of NATO. Named for the famous 1945 rendezvous of American and Soviet troops over the Elbe River in Germany, the Elbe Group started at HKS as a way to open a quietly serious dialogue...