Russian president Vladimir Putin travels to the United States later this month to meet with President George W. Bush at Camp David. While this summit is likely to consist more of pageantry than of politics, it comes at a critical time in U.S.-Russian relations, with the White House pressuring Moscow to support its initiatives in the Middle East--from the reconstruction of Iraq to the obstruction of the Iranian nuclear program--and Americans paying greater attention to Russia’s massive oil reserves and its rapidly expanding economy.

What role will Russia play in post-war Iraq and in the war on terrorism? Can Washington convince Moscow to stop aiding the Iranian effort to develop a nuclear bomb? Can Russian oil save America from dependence on Saudi Arabia? What is the future of U.S. foreign investment in Russia? And what are the Kremlin’s hopes and expectations for this summit?

Participants at an AEI panel discussion will include Clifford Gaddy, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Jon Wolfsthal, deputy director of the Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Nikolai Zlobin, editor in chief of Washington ProFile. Leon Aron, director of Russian studies and resident scholar at AEI, will act as moderator and discussant.