Great diplomatic relations are an asset to any country, but they have their liabilities.

Getting too friendly with a foreign power frequently leads to controversy. For example, the relationship between the United States and Israel creates tension with countries such as Egypt, which has had its fair share of struggles with Israel.

Now, United States ties with Russia have been front and center.

The administration of President Donald Trump has its share of friendliness with Russia. Rex Tillerson, the current Secretary of State, has a large business interest in Russia because of his prior work in energy. Attorney General Jefferson Sessions communicated with a Russian ambassador during Trump’s presidential campaign on two occasions, and did not mention them in a Senate hearing. It is illegal to have an allegiance to any other country as a United States official; but the legal extent of defining allegiance can be as clear as mud.

As for Trump himself, the breadth of the situation is still up in the air.

These links with Russia are concerning to those who find Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions repulsive. War crimes committed by the Russian-backed Syrian government in the ongoing Syrian Civil War have been atrocious by any standard; and the war in Ukraine’s Donbass region and Crimea have incited economic sanctions by former president Barack Obama.

Blue Springs South English teacher Jason Strait commented on the distinctions between condoning Russia’s aggression and simply improving diplomacy.

“Having a positive relationship and being beholden to them are two different things,” Strait said.
An embrace with Russia has its benefits. There are the plainly obvious perks, such as a stronger Middle East coalition to fight the Islamic State and basic assurance that nuclear war could be averted. A relationship could provide the needed leverage to clean up Russia’s act in the Caucuses and Ukraine, as decrying savagery without acknowledging geopolitical interests has never worked.

Though there is a debate on the benefits and drawbacks of reforming Russian diplomacy, many Americans are concerned about how investigations of Russian relations are going about for the Trump administration.

“They’ve looked into far less-serious subjects,” Strait said. “There seems to be plenty of evidence that’s worth looking into. I think people in Congress need to find their spines and check out what’s going on, and if they don’t find anything that’s fine,” Strait added.