The Foreign Service Journal, December 2016

32 DECEMBER 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL When it comes to the Soviet successor nations, economic and commercial diplomacy is a particularly important part of the U.S. foreign policy playbook. Michael A. Lally is deputy assistant secretary of Commerce for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. A Senior For- eign Service officer, his assignments have included Kyiv, Almaty, Baku, Philadelphia, Mexico City and Ankara. In 2017, he will become minister counselor for commercial affairs at U.S. Embassy Moscow, covering the Eurasian region. The views expressed herein are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect U.S. govern- ment policy. Comments welcome at michaellally@hotmail.com. A fter a decade-plus focus on coun- terterrorism and the Middle East, U.S. and European policymakers have begun to pivot attention back to Russia and Eurasia, where the rise of Russian autocratic national- ism and Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine have caused jitters from the Baltics to Central Asia. As the ON RUSSIA Kremlin looks to project power and influence, political and military considerations will continue to dominate policymaker bandwidth on Russia and Eurasia. However, the United States should make increasing use of one of the sharpest instruments in its policy toolbox: the strength of our economic system. While Soviet successor states have achieved varying levels of economic independence in the past quarter-century, many have, more or less, repudiated the central planning of the past, and look instead to a free market model. For example, Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan demonstrations were triggered by for- mer President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to walk away from an Association Agreement with the European Union that would have deepened trade and investment ties. In their protest, Ukrainians stood not for a free trade area per se, but for a European future with political pluralism, jobs and opportunity. The Baltic countries, with a strong national memory of independence, seized on economic reform and E.U. and NATO memberships to build competitive economies. Almost all SOMETHING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE MARKET THE ECONOMIC STATE OF THE FORMER U.S.S.R. BY M I CHAE L A . LAL LY FOCUS