Foreign Relations Between U.S. and Russia

Relationship Between White House and Kremlin Remains Strained

Nov 5, 2008

Russia warns that the United States can no longer act unilaterally, putting pressure on the President-elect to respond.

Smelling Weakness, Russia Plays Confident Dice With the Universe

With an international market fall that includes both the ruble and the dollar, one would think that Dmitry Medvedev would choose to exercise extreme caution with his words as the most nascent leader of Russia. After all, political stability for both Russia and the U.S. seems to hinge, lately, upon the countries' respective economic strengths. Yet, Medvedev set the standard arguably low for U.S.-Russian diplomacy by laying down an early gauntlet for President-elect Barack Obama.

Potential End to U.S. Unilateral Role

It's not simply an issue of economics when it comes to friendly U.S.-Russia relations. The Georgia problem has erupted into a formidable dilemma for the incoming Obama Administration which ostensibly seeks an alliance with Russian neighbors.

In April of this year, President-elect Barack Obama made a strong, if not lengthy statement about the U.S. perspective on Russia's overtures in Georgia.

The Huffington Post quoted Obama on the following: "No matter how this conflict started, Russia has escalated it well beyond the dispute over South Ossetia and invaded another country. Russia has escalated its military campaign through strategic bombing and the movement of its ground forces into the heart of Georgia. There is no possible justification for these attacks."

Peacekeeping between Russia and Georgia will undoubtedly involve effective talks of a ceasefire. How NATO responds--or demands--such action will help determine how the next U.S. President proceeds diplomatically on this issue. Furthermore, if Russia truly nurtures a legitimate hope of joining the WTO (World Trade Organization), it will be compelled to make conciliatory decisions on the Georgia front before it can defray international sanctions that will further cripple the ruble.

Healing Cold War Wounds

During a speech at the World Policy Conference last month, President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev said the following: "I think that the origins of the current situation can be found in the events that took place seven years ago. It was then that the world missed its historic chance, the chance to de-ideologize international politics and create a genuinely democratic world order. It let slip this chance because of the United States’ desire to consolidate its global rule."

Evidently sensing no irony in his own perspective, Medvedev went on to say, "I think that all countries, large and small, must resolutely abandon war as an instrument of policy. If we recognize that international relations is an accommodation of interests of equal and sovereign states, any attempt to dominate and achieve one's own goals at the expense of others would have to be seen as amoral. It is also inadmissible to impose on other states one’s national laws or the decisions of one’s national courts."

In this instance, Medvedev was making pointed remarks about United States foreign policy, but the relevance of those remarks when applied to relations between Russia and Georgia was lost on few.

The concept of U.S.-led hegemony has never been popular abroad, and only moderately respected even within national confines. Barack Obama's administration will undoubtedly be saddled with the heavy responsibility of determining how to successfully navigate those nebulous international waters.

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