“Demonization” of Russia will further turn Moscow against Washington and deprive any chance of establishing cooperation in mutually beneficial areas
This is the opinion of 19FortyFive columnist and senior fellow at the Defense Priorities Foundation think tank Daniel Davis.
According to the author, the U.S.-Russia summit was a rare positive development in the relationship between the two countries, but it is questionable whether it will lead to any further improvements.
In the short term, Moscow and Washington will be able to resolve a number of contentious issues, while some of them will remain in limbo, the expert notes.
In particular, Russia will continue to regard NATO forward-deployed troops as a threat to national security, while the West will not change its position on the annexation of Crimea. The Kremlin will oppose Ukraine and Georgia joining the Alliance, while the United States will not stop accusing Russia of cyberattacks on its infrastructure, Davis concludes.
At the same time, he urges America to get rid of its natural tendency to classify Russia as a “bad guy” camp, where any act unacceptable to the US makes it an enemy in all spheres.
“This does not increase the chances of Moscow changing its behaviour to suit our wishes.”
Thus, he believes that the two states can benefit from cooperating together and that the benefits of a realism-based foreign policy with Moscow far outweigh the risks of perceiving it as an enemy.