Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger sees Russia playing a much greater role internationally.

"The Russians right now are in the process of trying to become more aggressive on the world scene," said Eagleburger. "And you have to understand as well that Moscow now, Russia now, is not in any position equal to that of the former Soviet Union. It is much weaker, much less influential on the world scene. And some of that influence on the world scene and a stronger economic and political position in the world is what Russia is driving hard for. And that has and will continue to make for some differences between the two of us."

Experts say both sides bridged differences as they agreed last year to a new treaty reducing strategic/long-range nuclear weapons.

Brent Scowcroft says Senate ratification of the treaty was essential in keeping the momentum going in the Washington/Moscow relationship.

"It was critical to this 'reset' because had we rejected that treaty, we would have been rejecting a closer relationship with Russia," added Scowcroft. "Now all the treaty really does is open the door to further progress between the two on nuclear arms control, should we decide to go that way. The U.S. and Russia still possess 95 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. Making the nuclear balance more stable, making progress whether you are a fan of zero nuclear weapons or not, making progress so that nuclear weapons are never used, is very important."