Old Cold War foes share a bed but dream different dreams

Hu Xuan, China Daily, Asia News Network, Beijing

Russia was the most important stop of U.S. President George W. Bush's four-state, six-day European tour, which ended last week.

Bush signed a landmark treaty with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on May 25 to slash the number of strategic offensive weapons by two-thirds throughout the next decade.

The two presidents also signed a declaration on new strategic relations as well as several co-operation agreements including one in the energy field that will boost Russia's oil exports to the United States.

The unusual warmth between Russia and the United States, the two former Cold War foes, along with the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-Russia Council, marked a significant change in Russia's relationship with the West.

The September 11 terrorist attacks has provided a turning point for U.S.-Russia relations to get rid of their recession. Russia has been viewed as a "quasi-ally" of the United States in the anti-terrorism campaign.

Russian President Putin certainly saw this rare common ground with the United States and Europe. He has been eager to establish Russia as part of the common European political and economic space.

Russia needs better relations with the United States and Europe to concentrate on rebuilding its economy and obtain Western assistance for economic rejuvenation.

Putin's priorities are logically focused on improving relations with the West.

For the United States, Russia is still a significant political and military factor in regional affairs in Europe and Asia. Russia's support for the anti-terror war is extremely important as Russia has long-term historic linkage with Central Asia states, including Afghanistan and Iran.

Moreover, Russia remains the only state with the nuclear capacity to balance the United States in that aspect. Although it may have lost power in conventional terms, it still retains considerable influence in areas immediately on its borders.

Persistent security loopholes in Russia means nuclear warheads in storage are likely to fall into the hands of terrorists. Better ties with Russia and collaboration in preventing nuclear proliferation are consistent with the U.S.'s immediate security interests.

In addition to that, Russia will be an indispensable future supplier of oil in the next 50 years, as important as Saudi Arabia for the petroleum industry in the West.

However, divergent basic strategic interests of both countries determine that their common ground is rather limited. The U.S. global strategy is to maintain its status as a sole superpower in the world. Russia wants to boost its role in international affairs.

The current warmth in bilateral ties is not enough to bridge their deep-rooted differences in world outlooks.

Russia has quite a different view of Iran from the United States. It sees Iran as a de jure regional power that deserves due respect, instead of the U.S. perception of it as a radical Islamic "rogue state."

Moreover, the treaty on the reduction of offensive strategic weapons does not require the actual destruction of a single missile or warhead. Rather, it gives the United States latitude to store its weapons and replace them later. In other words, apart from agreeing to a legally binding treaty, Washington has made no concession, and has not pledged to go any further than unilateral cuts it already decided upon.