During one of the rare public discussions at a well-known Washington think tank, nearly two dozen staff and fellows from the Atlantic Council, the American think tank at NATO, issued a statement criticizing two of their colleagues for allegedly pro-Russian articles on the think tank’s website.
Emma Ashford and Matthew Burroughs, two senior Atlantic Council experts, published an article on Friday that said the US should not focus on human rights in its relationship with Russia, and noted that democratization in Russia will not necessarily benefit US foreign policy interests.
The article prompted 22 think tank staff to issue a statement, distancing itself from Ashford and Burroughs.
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Their article is based on the false assumption that human rights and national interests are completely separate and that US policy towards Russia has been and remains largely human rights-oriented.
In fact, the previous and current administrations have sought to unify our values and other national interests, 22 experts said in a statement who disagreed with the report of their two colleagues.
One of the signatory experts told Politico that he was worried that the article was or could be perceived as a substandard product of work, influenced by a $ 4.5 million donation made over five years to the Atlantic Council by Charles Koch, who advocates a reduction in American interventions abroad.
After Koch donated this money to the Atlantic Council, it was used to create a New American Participation Initiative, which aims to explore new ways of solving foreign policy problems.
Source: NEWS AM
