The End of the Romance
Washington Post; February 16, 2005; Richard Holbrooke

After the 2001 meeting between Bush and Putin in Crawford, Texas, Bush made comments to the press that relations between the United States and Russia should be strong because Bush could see into Putin’s soul and judged that he was an honorable man. Nevertheless, former UN Ambassador Richard Holbrooke contends in an op-ed in Washington Post that the Bush administration needs to reexamine its foreign policy towards Russia due to steps that Russia has taken both domestically and internationally that are not beneficial to U.S. interests.

Domestically, Holbrooke points to what he describes as the emergence of “soft authoritarianism” in Russia as evidenced by provincial governors now being appointed by Putin, restrictions on press freedoms, and the continuance of corruption. Internationally, he strongly criticizes the presence of Russian troops in “frozen conflict” zones in Georgia and Moldova.

In the past, Holbrooke notes that the United States has tolerated authoritarianism and corruption in Russia in the past because of the political and economic benefits that are gained by supporting the regime in power. However, while not advocating a return to “Cold War” style relations, Holbrooke argues that Russia’s cooperation of terrorism and missile defense is not worth the price we are paying for our “blank check” policy. He supports his argument with evidence of Russia’s opposition to U.S. policy in Iraq as well as Russia’s developing alliance with Turkey. In the end, the former ambassador believes that time is of the essence to reform our relationship with Russia and that if we wait too long we will lose our influence with a nation that he describes as “…an important and legitimate part of the international system.”