On the credit side of the ledger- obama foreign policy so far
I didn’t think the Obamas Al Arabiya interview was a mistake, I thought he attempted to lay some ground work. First appeal to the moderates, then approach the others, he attempted to appeal to Iran and at least call for more open dialogue and a genuine attempt to at least talk to each other. But as he soon learned and realized, Iran will simply not accept a proffer of friendship or real dialgoue minus some subservient gesture.
As to Russia, again it appears he saw Putins attempts at throwing him meaningless bones for what it was as you’ll see below. It appears to me at least and contrary to what I would have thought a month ago, he is at least so far on firmer footing here than domestically.
I won’t address Gitmo et al as I feel that more closely aligned at least in his eyes with his domestic interests agenda.
U.S., Russia Seek Thaw, But Rift Remains
MUNICH — Russia appreciates overtures being made by the United States to improve relations, but sees no need to immediately respond in kind, Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said Sunday.
Mr. Ivanov made no concessions after meeting face-to-face with Vice President Joe Biden to discuss issues that have caused friction between Washington and Moscow in recent years.
Mr. Ivanov said Mr. Biden had “reaffirmed the strong intention of the U.S. to start (relations) anew,” which the Russian official said was “very positive” for Russia-U.S. ties.
“The U.S. administration sent a very strong signal, and the signal was heard — a signal that says they’re ready to resume the Russian and U.S. dialogue frankly and openly,” Mr. Ivanov told a news conference on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. But he said Russia did not feel it necessary to immediately reciprocate. “It is not an Oriental bazaar,” he said. “And we do not trade the way people do in the bazaars.” Mr. Biden did not speak with reporters after the meeting.
Mr. Ivanov repeated Moscow’s standard line on several issues, such as its opposition to a proposed U.S. missile defense shield in Eastern Europe.
On Kyrgyzstan’s announcement last week that it would close the Manas air base to the U.S. military, which had been using it to resupply troops in Afghanistan, Mr. Ivanov said Russia had not influenced the decision. He rejected suggestions by U.S. officials that Kyrgyzstan acted under pressure from Moscow after securing more than $2 billion in loans and aid from Russia.
“There is no correlation between the decision of the Kyrgyz republic and loans that the Russian Federation granted to Kyrgyz republic,” Ivanov said, adding that closing the air base was “the decision of a sovereign state.”
On Georgia, Mr. Ivanov said Russia would continue to build “small bases” in the breakaway Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to prevent Georgia from attacking. He also defended Moscow’s recognition of the regions’ independence as “irrevocable.”
In a highly anticipated address on Satuday, Mr. Biden called for pushing the “reset button” on America’s troubled relationship with Russia, but also proceeded to lay out a series of positions that could strain those ties even further — including a continuation of the Bush administration’s missile-defense plans.
Mr. Biden said Moscow and Washington share a variety of common interests, including stabilizing Afghanistan and defeating extremist groups such as the Taliban.
The vice president said the Obama administration would work with Russia to negotiate “deeper cuts” in the two nations’ nuclear arsenals and reauthorize some of the verification provisions in the Start arms-control treaty, which expires later this year.
The last few years have seen a dangerous drift in relations between Russia and the members of our alliance,” he said, referring to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “It’s time to press the reset button.”
Still, the overall tone and substance of Mr. Biden’s remarks made clear that the White House is prepared to continue the Bush administration’s hard-line approach toward Russia, potentially pushing tensions between the two powers even higher.
Mr. Biden outlined a number of positions directly at odds with those of the Kremlin.
He said the U.S. would refuse to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, restive regions allied with Moscow that broke away from Georgia during its war with Russia last summer. Mr. Biden rejected Russia’s longstanding contention that it is entitled to have a “sphere of influence” over its neighbors. And he said NATO would seek “deeper cooperation” with former Soviet republics and other nations that “share our common goals and principles.”
“We will not agree with Russia on everything,” Mr. Biden said, in a clear understatement.
A U.S. official traveling with Mr. Biden said the vice president’s remarks on Russia were toughened in recent days because of anger in Washington about Moscow’s efforts to close the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan. Krygyz leaders announced plans to shutter the base shortly after receiving billions of dollars in loans and grants from the Kremlin.
Mr. Biden’s remarks had been eagerly anticipated here because they represented the Obama administration’s first public pronouncements on foreign policy. The vice president, in a clear attempt to repair strained ties with Europe, said the U.S. would abandon abusive interrogation procedures used by the Bush administration, take stronger steps to combat global warming and close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.
“America will do more, that’s the good news,” he said. “The bad news is, America will ask for more from our partners.”
Mr. Biden didn’t make any specific requests to the assembled U.S. allies, but spoke in general terms about the need for greater international assistance in Afghanistan and sustained multinational pressure on Iran.
Echoing recent comments from Mr. Obama, the vice president said the U.S. was “willing to talk to Iran.”
At the same time, he said, the new administration remains committed to preventing Iran from attaining nuclear weapons and would seek stronger sanctions if the Iranian government continued to pursue its nuclear ambitions. Tehran, he concluded, faces a momentous choice.
“Continue down your current course and there will be pressure and isolation,” he said. “Abandon the illicit nuclear program and your support for terrorism and there will be meaningful incentives.”