The Clinton administration's support to Russian President Boris Yeltsin, 1993-1996

Abstract

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the U.S. foreign policy and the relationship between the United States and Russia inevitably changed. Particularly during the course of the first Clinton administration (1993-1996), the two countries developed the highest degree of collaboration and proximity that has ever been witnessed up to this day. The Clinton administration’s enthusiasm and distinguished support for the Yeltsin government was founded on two fundamental premises: first, the establishment and consolidation of a market economy in a country was equivalent to its economic success and, second, democracy and market economy were two inseparable concepts. As the first Russian democratically elected President seemed to be pushing the country towards growing economic and political liberalisation, the Clinton administration’s support naturally endured. This thesis aims at making an assessment of the objectives of the Clinton administration’s support for the Yeltsin’s government and of their subsequent evaluation of the results of such strategy, particularly with regard to Russia’s evolving economic and political conditions. Specifically, through the examination of recently disclosed U.S. governmental documents from the first Clinton administration’s era, as well as the study of historians’ contributions, this work will illustrate the Clinton administration’s strategy culminating with the reelection of Yeltsin in 1996, and show the U.S. premises, expectations and responses to Russia’s political and economic evolution in those years.