US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has given a detailed assessment of Russian-American relations, with predictions about how they will develop. In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Rice said that the greatest challenge Russia poses to the outside
world is its energy policy.

When asked to comment on the consequences of Russia's growing closeness to China, Rice replied diplomatically that she doesn't share recently-expressed opinions about the great potential of a Russia-China axis. She indicated that China and Russia have bilateral problems and differences, and made it clear that even outside the link with China, Moscow poses a substantial challenge to Washington.

Rice highlighted three aspects of relations with Moscow: cooperation on global issues, contacts within the former Soviet Union, and Washington's perception of Russian internal politics. It's interesting to note that Washington sees the second and third aspects as the most problematic. Rice said: "We actually do relatively well with Russia, whether it's global terrorism or the work we've done on global nuclear threats, or whether it is the work
that we've done on North Korea, and even Iran, frankly." She added that while Russia and the USA may differ on how fast or far-reaching sanctions against Iran ought to be, these are only tactical differences.

 Russian-US cooperation within the former Warsaw Pact presents a more complicated situation. Rice accused Moscow of being inclined to perceive issues related to NATO expansion and US actions in Central Asia as a zero-sum game. "There, I think we do tend to get into some conflicts that have to do with Russia in a sense re- " Rice broke off her sentence at that point. She went on to note that after a period of uncertainty in the 1990s, Moscow is again determining its interests in this region.

Of greatest concern for Washington is the concentration of power in the Kremlin and the associated increase in state control over Russia's oil and gas resources. Rice said that Moscow's oil and gas policies present "the biggest challenge." Rice admitted: "I think you can work issues of where missile defense capabilities are deployed or we can work issues of how fast you get an Iran resolution this time... But when it comes to the domestic landscape and the use of oil and gas for political purposes, that's going to be very hard."

Recounting impressions from her visit to Russia in October, Rice told the interviewers that Russian television reminded her of Soviet television in the late 1970s. She noted with satisfaction that young people in Russia are using the Internet, and that the Russian government's ability to control information is actually more limited than Moscow may realize.

Rice's comment that the "hottest thing" in Moscow these days is a 30-year mortgage drew laughter from the American interviewers. Rice suggested that this category of Russian citizens will develop certain political interests, along with the growing entrepreneurial
and business class. This segment of voters, according to Rice, could exert "significant pressures" on the Russian political system in the future. Meanwhile, said Rice, "Russians are just grateful for economic and greater political stability given that the 1990s were pretty rough." She didn't attempt to predict when this "gratitude" might run out.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta