How did the United States get into another standoff with Russia—and where do we go from here? The Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel and Stephen Cohen offered historical context on this question in a discussion with John Mearsheimer and moderated by Gilbert Doctorow in Brussels earlier this month.

At the March 2 discussion, “Defining a New Security Architecture for Europe That Brings Russia in From the Cold,” hosted by the American Committee for East-West Accord, Cohen explained that since the end of the Soviet regime, the United States has maintained an attitude of “winner-take-all,” refusing to negotiate with Russia and pursuing its interests at all costs.

“I would argue that since the Clinton-Bush era, triumphalism and the push for the spread of global liberalism supplanted the national interest as the true test of American foreign policy,” vanden Heuvel said. The Nation, she added, will provide a forum for the creation of a new foreign policy strategy based in progressive principles.