Present day Russia and what it was in the 1990s have recently been thoroughly compared. And until the last few years Russia’s public opinion was likely to criticize the first period of post-Soviet existence and praise the present state of affaires. Now we often come across such ideas that there were some positive moments (who would have thought?) during the Lihie 90s in Russia, what used to occupy a central position but now have been driven away from the main scene.
Russia’s attitude toward Western countries, especially US-Russian relations, has somewhat greatly changed in the past 8 years. The time when Russia and America were literally embracing each other has now transformed into a pretty cold and strained relationship, concerning many a viewer. The hitch is that none of the two Russian foreign policy strategies was overall satisfactory. When the USSR collapsed Russia was experiencing a tough period of transition from totalitarianism to democracy and thus looked up to the US for advice and support. Despite the friendliness of these relations, they can hardly be considered as a partnership on an equal basis. Today Russia’s break-through in economic development and the country’s certain political stability provide a ground for optimism, yet at the same time American-Russian relations have stumbled on a series of setbacks and obstacles, what made many experts predict Cold war’s new edition.
I think the answer to the question of Who lost the West in Russia cannot be easily found. It would be a miss to say that it was President Putin’s fault, or Boris Eltsin’s fault. Besides, in any argument both sides have their share in the outcome. We owe the present state of affairs to the global historical process, which brought serious changes to Russia and the Western world as well. I think the world community should focus more not on the question of Who is to blame? but What should be done?. In context of Russian-American relations the two countries should gain mutual agreement on the selected ways and means of dealing with current problems and challenges, for in reality the two nations seek similar results, their final goals are not contrary (take the fight against terrorism or the Iran nuclear program for example). Permanent, stable and equal dialogue can play a key-role in the revival of Russia’s links with Western countries which is undoubtedly one of its foreign policy’s main prerogatives.
