The American Committee for East–West Accord is the name of two related organizations that have existed during separate periods of American history whose goals have been to promote, in the United States, conciliation with the Soviet Union and, later, the Russian Federation.
Original organization (1974–1992)
The American Committee for East–West Accord was informally organized in 1974, and chartered three years later, in 1977. Founding members included George F. Kennan, Stephen F. Cohen, Jerome Wiesner, and Theodore Hesburgh. The group, which was composed of businessmen, journalists, academics, and former elected officials, advanced the position that "common sense" should determine U.S. trade policy with the USSR, specifically, that the U.S. should avoid economic boycotts and sanctions against the Soviet Union as such measures rarely worked. Instead, it argued, expanding American-Soviet trade would help advance the cause of détente. It also supported the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, increased scientific and cultural exchanges with the Soviet Union, and less confrontational rhetoric about the USSR. According to the committee, its underlying perspective was support for the "resolute abandonment of the stale slogans and reflexes of the Cold War... and a determination not to be governed by the compulsions of military competition". One of the committee's earliest activities was production of the film Survival... or Suicide which presented a cinematic treatment of the effects nuclear war would have on daily life.
Reestablished organization (2015–present)
History
Cohen reestablished the American Committee for East–West Accord in 2015 with the assistance of Gilbert Doctorow. A formal launch event was held in November of that year. In addition to Cohen and Doctorow, other members of the group's board of directors include Donald McHenry, William vanden Heuvel, Bill Bradley, Chuck Hagel, Jack F. Matlock Jr., and John E. Pepper, Jr. Cohen was quoted by Zoë Schlanger, in Newsweek as objecting to what he termed "media malpractice" in covering Russia as approaching the terminology in use during the Cold War. The impetus for reforming the committee was, according to its executive editorJames Carden, due to its perception that "anyone who has had the temerity to question whether NATO’s relentless expansion eastward to Russia’s borders has contributed to the crisis , can look forward to being labeled a 'useful idiot', a 'dupe', or a 'Kremlin apologist'. The trend towards character assassinationin lieu of substantive debate has been one of the defining features of the debate over US–Russia policy".
Finances
According to an article in The Daily Beast, the organization is "partly funded by Katrina vanden Heuvel's family." Another article by Cathy Young that was also published in The Daily Beast said that vanden Heuvel's father was listed as ACEWA's president in its incorporating papers and that the address for the foundation which he founded was also listed on the committee's tax filing in March 2014.
Personnel
According to a Daily Beast article by Casey Michel, Carden called Michel a "snievling shit" through a Linkedin exchange and threatened him with physical violence after Michel pointed out that Carden contributed to Kremlin-funded Russia Direct outlet. MIchel said that Carden later apologized. In 2017, Carden asserted that Moscow's alleged actions of political interference were "no different from what the U.S. government has done to promote its interests abroad." This assertion was disputed by Clint Watts, a former FBI agent, counterterrorism specialist and fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who said "the idea that the U.S. engages in such activities was preposterous." Co-founder Gilbert Doctorow has been critical of the United States, the West, Russian opposition and other Russian entities in his works. An article on the ThinkProgress website by Casey Michel in February 2018 commented that ACEWA had removed any mention of Doctorow from its website and speculated that the action may have resulted from "Doctorow’s recent decision to defend" Russia Insider, "a pro-Kremlin site notorious for publishing rank anti-Semitism." Carden said that the decision to remove Doctorow's material was due to “web maintenance was called for in light of recent events” and added that "it had nothing to do at all with Russia Insider” while Cohen said that the decision to remove Doctorow's material was to "clarify that no ongoing ACEWA relationship with Doctorow after he left the Board" in March 2017.
Purpose
The organization was established with the intent of encouraging discussion and debate in the U.S. at a time when the United States has started drifting into a new Cold War with Russia. see: http://jordanrussiacenter.org/event-recaps/american-committee-east-west-accord-encourages-debate-u-s-russian-relations/#.W-G5DK2ZPq0
Reaction
The organization has drawn concern/criticism from Nina Khrushcheva, Lilia Shevtsova, Mark Galeotti and Michael McFaul and has been described by Cathy Young as having a "decidedly pro-Putin lineup." Young also criticized the works of co-founder Gilbert Doctorow, which she described as pro-Kremlin and serving up a "steady diet of frank Kremlin apologism and vitriolic attacks on Putin foes."
