Pessimism, it seems, is blind to partisan differences in Russia. This is from an interesting column by Andrei Kortunov in the Moscow Times.
It is interesting that Russia's conservative "patriots" and the diametrically opposed liberals are in many respects equally pessimistic. The patriots hold that it is naive to think there could be a new detente with the United States, because those in Washington's ruling circles always have been and always will be antagonistic toward Russia -- no matter who occupies the White House. They believe that Russophobia is deeply ingrained in the American psyche. This explains, for example, why the U.S. media is full of articles, editorials and opinion pieces that are biased against Russia and, more specifically, why NATO military exercises are being held on Russia's border in Georgia.
The liberals are pessimistic for a completely different reason. They have no faith in the sincerity of the Kremlin leadership. In their opinion, the country's political elite is simply not ready for a serious dialogue with the United States because it has a vested interest in portraying the United States as an enemy, in encouraging anti-U.S. sentiment and maintaining the "besieged fortress" mentality.
The specter of hostile enemies surrounding Russia has traditionally made it possible to divert attention from domestic problems, give legitimacy to those in authority and provide cover for their mistakes and abuses of power. That is why, according to liberals, Russia will continue to provide support to enemies of the United States, from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It also explains why the Kremlin hawks will fight to control what they consider their "zone of privileged interests" in the former Soviet republics and do everything in their power to drive a wedge between the United States and European countries.
There is an element of truth to both the liberal and patriotic positions. Without going into detail, it is safe to say that there is a tremendous amount of inertia that guarantees that U.S.-Russian relations remain strained, despite brief respites of optimism. The worsening of relations has a history dating back years before the fallout over the Georgia war in August. The breaking point might have been NATO's war in Yugoslavia in the late 1990s, the war in Iraq or the Kremlin's bankruptcy of Yukos and the criminal case against the company's former CEO, Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
