by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright July 7, 2009
All Rights Reserved.

            President Barack Obama faced still headwinds in his first summit in Moscow, meeting with Russian Preident Dmitry Medvedev and former President and now Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.  While the White House billed the visit as a “reset” of U.S.-Russian relations, the truth is too much water has gone under the bridge to start with an entirely clean slate.  Eight years of acrimony and Cold War rhetoric under former President George W. Bush left Russia skeptical of U.S. intentions.  Since the end of WWII, U.S. Russian relations deteriorated into dog-eat-dog competition for domination on the global stage.  Despite the 1991 breakup of the old Soviet Union, the U.S. has jockeyed for position to dominate former republics once part of the Soviet empire.  Obama faced deep skepticism from years of Soviet and Russia-bashing by the U.S. and its allies.

            Russia wanted Obama to make new concessions on current plans for missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic.  Barack offered no concessions only a new attitude of cooperation and diplomacy.  Both countries want to restart strategic nuclear arms reduction talks, something Russia wants linked to Obama ending missile defense contracts in Eastern Europe.  Too much anti-Kremlin rhetoric and retaliatory measures, like former President Jimmy Carter’s 1980 boycott of the Moscow Olympics, have soured Russia on American global intent.  Nor did it help that the CIA supported Osama bin Laden when the Soviets occupied Afghanistan in the ‘80s.  It didn’t help relations last summer when the U.S. sided with Georgia in its dispute with Russia.  Good faith measures now require the U.S. to take concrete steps to cancel plans to install missile defense in Eastern Europe.

            Obama came to Moscow with the overriding message that the U.S. and Russia share many common values and need not compete.  He promised the U.S. would help Russia be “strong, peaceful and prosperous.”  Barack told graduates of Moscow’s New Eocnomic School that the U.S and Russia were not “destined to be antagonistic,” seeing a host of cooperative ventures.  “It is difficult to forge a last partnership between former adversaries.  But I believe on the fundamental issues that will shape this century, Amercans and Russians share common interests that form a basis for cooperation,” said Obama, ending years of harsh rhetoric.  Conservatives interpret Barack’s gesture as weakness in the face of a provocative adversary.  Obama sees a U.S.-Russian partnership as essential for maintaining global security and dealing with regional conflicts affecting U.S. national security.

            Medvedev and Putin expect more than flowery rhetoric about America’s good intentions.  They both want concrete steps toward abandoning Bush’s missile defense system designed to neutralize growing Iranian and N. Korean threats.  Obama must show real leadership reversing multibillion-dollar contracts with Boeing, Poland and the Czech Republic.  Few countries at the U.N. believe that installing missile defense in Eastern Europe neutralizes a growing Iranian nuclear threat.  There’s no reason to expect Medvedev and Putin to make concessions on nuclear arms without seeing a give-and-take on U.S. missile defense.  Missile interceptors, once known as former President Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars or Strategic Defense Initiative, aren’t needed by countries that don’t have long-range ballistic missiles.  Scrapping missile defense may be the best way to improve U.S-Russian relations.

            Unless there’s a real U.S. national security threat in Eastern Europe, Obama should consider rescinding contracts to install missile defense.  No other Western or Eastern European country expressed concerns about an Iranian missile threat.  What does threaten U.S. national security is having antagonistic relations with Russia.  Medvedev’s decision to allow the U.S. to transport heavy equipment and war materiel to the Afhghan front on Russian territory saves the Pentagon time and millions in costs.  Obama should ignore right wing critics and do what’s right to build a strong, mutually beneficial alliance with Russia.  “We hit all of the dimensions of the U.S.-Russian relationship . . . That’s a good start to what now begins the harder process of building a this relationship in a more sustained way,” said Obama’s chief Russian advisor Michael McFaul, ignoring missile defense.

            Obama needs to do more than “reset” U.S.-Russian relations.  He needs to find out specifically the areas of conflict and do something about it.  Missile defense in Eastern Europe accomplishes nothing for U.S. national security if it antagonizes Russia and weakens their defensive posture.  “This government [Russia] is not ready for dialogue.  This government has the mentality of street hoodlums.  I think that after looking into Obama’s eyes Put understood that this guy won’t stand any jokes,” said former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.  Kasparov remains highly critical of Medvdev and Putin but holds little clout in Russia.  Dissidents, like Kasparov, want to sabotage U.S.-Russian relations.  Obama can’t get seduced into fighting someone else’s battle.  Canceling Bush’s Eastern Europe missile defense policy should open up many doors and pay rich dividends

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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