Shucking Cold War Inertia in Russia-US Relations

Obama's declared approach of taking account of the views of other countries, reliance on multilateral institutions and consensus diplomacy will help to reshape Russian-US relations. The recent dialogue on strategic offensive armaments could well be the spark that will ignite the engine of Russian-American interaction on a wide range of issues. It is increasingly clear, however, that ideologies and nuclear arms will not be the driving forces of world politics in the 21st century. Under these circumstances, Russia can be either an opponent or a partner for Washington. Previously, the main problem in their relationship was the US' unwillingness to sacrifice any of its interests, even secondary ones. A new Russian-US partnership could be built on the similarities in their foreign policy priorities - their focus on regional conflicts and the need for stability in Eurasia.