US Tactics Toward Russia
By Afifeh Abedi in Irandaily/No.3709
Apart from the shift in Russia’s Iran policy, the country’s siding with the US has led to heated debates in Russia’s political scene as well as international circles.
This new foreign policy approach is apparently based on the new doctrine of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Moscow is determined to resolve its political problems with Washington through cooperation and modernization of its national economy by receiving incentives from the West.
This foreign policy of Russia is reminiscent of its Euro-Atlantic approach in the 1990s, which ultimately faced a defeat. Back then, Russia was entangled with the political and economic aftermath of the collapse of the former Soviet Union. With the intensification of rifts on the internal front, the Kremlin was obliged to revise its policies regarding the West.
Although governing conditions in Russia are different from those in the past, it seems that with the US revocation of sanctions against Russian companies and its consent to Russia joining World Trade Organization (WTO), Moscow’s new US policy has been successful. However, the main question for the Russians who are opposed to the new policy vis-à-vis the US is whether Russia can control its new game in the mid- and long-term.
Firstly, the success of Russia’s foreign policy is not due to changes in America’s foreign policy guidelines, but rather to psychological tactics of the White House against Kremlin. By remembering the historical experience of the Cold War era and the 1990s, America has welcomed Russia’s new foreign policy and seeks Russian help to resolve its international problems. It also aims to prevent new confrontation.
One psychological tactic evident in the new round of Moscow-Washington ties is that the US which, in the past couple of decades, boasted of enjoying global hegemony and controlling the unipolar system, has now addressed Russia directly for overcoming international woes. This approach stems from America’s strategic need for settling global predicaments created by the George W. Bush administration. Of course, this is also sought by the Russians. In order to fulfill this target, Washington does not have any qualms about granting advantages to Russia in terms of WTO membership or trade transactions with American companies.
Another psychological tactic has come to the limelight in the past few months in the West’s approach toward Russia. Most western and American circles have compared Iran’s nuclear dossier to the one concocted by the US for Iraq before 2003, which indicates that the war in Iraq was basically due to the fact that Moscow did not back Washington in exerting political and economic pressures against Baghdad. Hence, some analysts evaluate Russia’s attitude in relation to Iran’s peaceful nuclear program from this perspective.
This is while opponents of Russia’s new foreign policy wonder whether the country will be a loser in this scenario. The US has urged Russia to revise its approach toward the Afghan war in order to manage the crisis, though it has received a greater advantage from Russia regarding Iran. Granting the Iran trump card to the US is tantamount to a strategic advantage which, in the long run, can lead to US control over Russia’s geopolitics with the reciprocal widening of rift between Tehran and Moscow
Apart from the shift in Russia’s Iran policy, the country’s siding with the US has led to heated debates in Russia’s political scene as well as international circles.
This new foreign policy approach is apparently based on the new doctrine of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Moscow is determined to resolve its political problems with Washington through cooperation and modernization of its national economy by receiving incentives from the West.
This foreign policy of Russia is reminiscent of its Euro-Atlantic approach in the 1990s, which ultimately faced a defeat. Back then, Russia was entangled with the political and economic aftermath of the collapse of the former Soviet Union. With the intensification of rifts on the internal front, the Kremlin was obliged to revise its policies regarding the West.
Although governing conditions in Russia are different from those in the past, it seems that with the US revocation of sanctions against Russian companies and its consent to Russia joining World Trade Organization (WTO), Moscow’s new US policy has been successful. However, the main question for the Russians who are opposed to the new policy vis-à-vis the US is whether Russia can control its new game in the mid- and long-term.
Firstly, the success of Russia’s foreign policy is not due to changes in America’s foreign policy guidelines, but rather to psychological tactics of the White House against Kremlin. By remembering the historical experience of the Cold War era and the 1990s, America has welcomed Russia’s new foreign policy and seeks Russian help to resolve its international problems. It also aims to prevent new confrontation.
One psychological tactic evident in the new round of Moscow-Washington ties is that the US which, in the past couple of decades, boasted of enjoying global hegemony and controlling the unipolar system, has now addressed Russia directly for overcoming international woes. This approach stems from America’s strategic need for settling global predicaments created by the George W. Bush administration. Of course, this is also sought by the Russians. In order to fulfill this target, Washington does not have any qualms about granting advantages to Russia in terms of WTO membership or trade transactions with American companies.
Another psychological tactic has come to the limelight in the past few months in the West’s approach toward Russia. Most western and American circles have compared Iran’s nuclear dossier to the one concocted by the US for Iraq before 2003, which indicates that the war in Iraq was basically due to the fact that Moscow did not back Washington in exerting political and economic pressures against Baghdad. Hence, some analysts evaluate Russia’s attitude in relation to Iran’s peaceful nuclear program from this perspective.
This is while opponents of Russia’s new foreign policy wonder whether the country will be a loser in this scenario. The US has urged Russia to revise its approach toward the Afghan war in order to manage the crisis, though it has received a greater advantage from Russia regarding Iran. Granting the Iran trump card to the US is tantamount to a strategic advantage which, in the long run, can lead to US control over Russia’s geopolitics with the reciprocal widening of rift between Tehran and Moscow
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