David Ramseur

Americans - and especially Alaskans - should raise a glass of ice-cold vodka to the visionary who ended the Cold War.

His task is increasing tougher as Putin’s paranoia grows with his failing invasion of Ukraine.

Cooperative efforts such as sister-city relations should remain at least dormant and available for resuscitation after Putin is gone.

After years of lip service from President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, it’s Biden getting it done.

Could there be a more striking contrast between the leadership shown by the current occupant of the White House and those in the Juneau governor’s mansion and Anchorage City Hall?

Khabarovsk’s unlikely role of facing down the Kremlin may surprise the Alaskans who ventured there under the “glasnost” openness of the 1980s.

Regardless of the squabbling between our national governments, the model of citizen diplomacy pursued by Alaskans and Russians a generation ago can again pay dividends in advancing mutual understanding and reducing tensions today.

As American-Russian relations today deteriorate to their most precarious in decades, leaders of both countries should learn from the example set by Alaskan and Russian “citizen diplomats” three decades ago.

The collateral damage from the early March poisoning of a Russian spy in London who turned against his country soon will be felt in Alaska.

In 1962, Capt. Charles Maultsby piloted a U-2 spy plane from Eielson Air Force Base to the North Pole and mistakenly drifted into Soviet air space at the height of the Cuban missile crisis.

Wise policy for United States is to cultivate Cuba, where people honor revolutionary past but look forward to the economic opportunity of free enterprise.

Barely an hour after Donald Trump stunned the world with his election victory, he received hearty congratulations from an unlikely admirer – Russian President Vladmir Putin. For any other winning U.S. presidential candidate, such quick adoration from the nation President Ronald Reagan dubbed the “evil empire” would spark suspicion. For Trump, it substantiated what many … Continue reading Alaska has lessons for Trump in working with Russia

LORINO, Russia – Maj. A.H. Polosen was not smiling. The stern Russian Border Guard officer – a member of the notorious FSB (Federal Security Bureau), the former KGB – boarded our bus in the remote Bering Sea village of Lavrentiya demanding our “documents.” That’s when our 16-hour detention, trial and sentencing started. For two weeks … Continue reading Putin policies put a little chill in Alaska-Russia relations

OPINION: A champion of children and health care, Michael Cowper served Alaska with distinction in her time as first lady.

OPINION: A little of the ice curtain across the Bering Straits has melted again, and that's an opportunity to improve U.S.-Russian relations.