Obama and Russia: Facing the Heritage of the Bush Years

Summary:

Barack Obama's recent overtures toward Russia show a desire to break away from the Bush years, which were characterized by a profound deterioration in American-Russian relations. To gauge the chances of success for this openness, we must reexamine the Bush legacy weighing on the resumption of relations, especially on their strategic dimension. Indeed, direct exchanges between the two countries over the course of the past eight years have increasingly turned towards head-on opposition. Indirect exchanges between the two states in Russia's neighborhood also display contradictory influences, with Iran and Georgia bringing to light deep-rooted differences fuelled by cold war-style rhetoric. In other words, even if Barack Obama appears to be imposing his own style by reorienting America's foreign policy, his scope for action is partly limited by the legacy of his predecessor.

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