Why the United States Should “reSTART” the “Reset”

Owen Graham / June 25, 2010

The goal of the Obama administration, made clear from almost day one, was to hit a “reset” button on US-Russian relations. The question of what we are re-setting, however, is something that has been all but ignored.

In the mindset of the Russians, they have to change nothing.  Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak stated in an interview to The Rossiyskaya Gazeta, “I do not think that our [Russia’s] attitude toward America changed greatly. I’d say that the Americans finally saw the error of their ways and began working on amelioration of our relations.”

This was a dead giveaway. During the START negotiations the Russians pushed for concession and after concession from the U.S. while giving nothing in return. As described by Stephen Rademaker, Senior Counsel, BGR Government Affairs, “This negotiation was essentially Christmas Day over and over again [for the Russians].” (more…)