"Moscow is entering a period when its domestic policies will have a greater impact on foreign policy than before"

A Russian 'frenemy'

Leon Aron

A free, democratic, stable and prosperous Russian state, at peace with its own people and the world, would be an immense geo-strategic boon to the United States, and America would be deeply gratified to welcome it as a friend and ally

The White House is trying to revive the "reset" with Vladimir Putin's Russia. It is likely to be a wasted effort. The reset is dead not because of someone's ill will or mistakes. It is because Washington and Moscow have reached the limit of accommodation that neither could overstep without compromising the central elements and moral content of their foreign and domestic policies. The Obama administration's effort would be far better spent on devising a more realistic strategy that at least stabilizes the relationship, albeit on a lower level of interaction.

Two sets of factors are mostly responsible for the growing disjunction between the United States and Russia: the diminution of Russia's geo-strategic relevance for some key U.S. objectives, and the increasing prominence and role that Kremlin domestic behavior plays in U.S.-Russian relations.

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