Hitting the ‘restart button’ – not so fast

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23 March, 2009, 15:43
Hitting the ‘restart button’ – not so fast

From Moscow to Washington, politicians and diplomats appear to be in a bidding war over who can best hit the ‘restart button’ to put life back into the troubled Russia-US bilateral relationship. There is good reason to believe that both sides at the highest political level have the will to make this happen. Unfortunately, recasting the Russia-US relations must also involve a change of mindset in Western media and those who make a living off of Russia bashing.

The Russia-US relationship is unlike most country-to-country encounters on the world stage. These ties are always part of a complex web of high-level geopolitics, the political style of politicians and the opinion and preferences of special interests, including attitudes found in the media. Politicians at the very top, in this case Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and US President Barack Obama, can make it a policy priority to improve their countries’ bilateral relationship, but this will not ensure any meaningful improvement. The other players in this parley have to get on board too and this will not be any easy task.

The fact is Russia is an idea and media story that employs many people and has been made into a subject that entertains and confirms a certain Western moral superiority. All of which makes hitting the ‘restart button’ difficult, if not impossible.

It is hardly likely that Obama’s overtures toward Russia will sit well with The Washington Post, The New York Times, or The Economist, to mention only a few of the most notable media outlets that have a constant anti-Russia drumbeat. All are so anti-Russia that it goes beyond the border of Russophobia or even geopolitical commonsense. Obama and company will have no choice but to take notice. All of this will take its toll on finding the balance for Moscow and Russia as they assess what they can do together when assessing the world’s problems.

Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have it no easier, by the way. Like a game of tit-for-tat, Russian language media almost always mirrors many of the same prejudices against the US and its media. After all, Russian media can claim its coverage of Russia-US relations have been a success – it is the US that has stepped forward to ‘restart’ relations. Russian media can legitimately say ‘we were right all a long – and why now be to so understanding of a Washington that only wants to try to trick us only in a different way?’ Indeed, changing attitudes on both sides will be thorny. Simply put, there are a lot pride issues at stake.

Then there is the issue of institutionalized Russophobia. Western media works this position to make money and cater to past prejudices and wrongful assumptions of how the entire world should bow to Western perceptions and tastes. But there is also the huge institutional elite, founded during the Cold War, which exists to this day attempting to prove countries like Russia are the antithesis of Western values (the same values they rarely adhere to). There are many of them and they include the National Endowment for Democracy, the American Enterprise Institute, the Council of Foreign Relations, and the Heritage Foundation.

The list of organizations that make a living off justifying their existence based on fearing Russia is sadly commonplace and a prejudiced barrier when hitting the restart button. One does not have to look hard to find evidence of this. Take for example Ariel Cohen’s comments in front of the US Senate Foreign Committee. Cohen, a scholar at The Heritage Foundation, testified the following:

“If Russia reconsiders its anti-American stance, the United States should be prepared to pursue a matter of common interest.”

This comment should floor any objective viewer of the Russia-US relationship since the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. When has the US been prepared to reconsider its anti-Russia stance?

The US has strongly pursued NATO expansion against Russia’s legitimate security interests. Russia exists in a neighborhood that is unstable. Russia has the right and responsibility to have a say in this region’s future.

US-led NATO forces encouraged the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia to fight a war against Russia. Washington and Brussels are culpable for the death of innocent Russian civilians and peacekeepers. These facts are now part of the Russia’s mindset when thinking about better relations with the West, particularly the United States.

In my heart of hearts, I want to see Russia and the US mend relations, but there can be no doubt that too many in the West cannot reconcile themselves to see this happen. They have too much at stake and will lose so much if this were to come to pass.

Russia and the US have so many commonalities when it comes to the international agenda. Why should it be sidetracked by hateful and outdated prejudices and the careerism of the few?

Medvedev and Obama continue to face many who want them to fail. Many in media and the ideologically driven NGOs, and former Cold War policy wonks still have the advantage. Don’t expect too much from the ‘restart button’ until this changes.