Relations Between Washington and Moscow on the Mend

21 January 2011

President Barack Obama meets with President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Yokohama, Japan, 14 Nov 2010

President Barack Obama has made better relations with Russia a cornerstone of his foreign policy. Soon after he was sworn in as president two years ago, he vowed to "reset" relations with Moscow that were strained during the last few years of the Bush administration. Many experts say relations between the two countries are certainly on a better footing.

Retired Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni takes a more cautious approach, saying relations between the two countries have to be managed carefully.

"Russia is going to be a significant power. I think [the Russians] are resurgent in some ways. They are looking for their place in the world," said Zinni. "They are still blistered from the loss of influence in Eastern Europe and even in the southern parts of their borders that they blame us for. I think it's a relationship that needs a lot of work."

For his part, former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft says Moscow and Washington are beginning to work together.

"And it's going to be a long, slow process, because there is still a lot of suspicion and they don't do things the way we like," said Scowcroft. "And they have an innate hostility to us. We don't think that anybody lost the Cold War, but they certainly do. So they are still suffering from the fact that we came out of it well and their whole way of life was destroyed. So we've got a long way to go, but I think we're on the right track."