Obama, Medvedev Seek New Era In U.S.-Russia Ties

Reuters:

LONDON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev will hit the restart button on U.S.-Russian ties by agreeing to begin talks on a new nuclear arms treaty when they meet for the first time on Wednesday.

But many other contentious issues cloud the outlook, from missile defense to Iran and NATO expansion, before the relationship warms up again.

Read the whole story: Reuters

Comments

[Scar1]

Oh wonderful? America has been on top as a number 1 Nation among Nations. Now we have others who want that distinction. The point being America and these Nations should bow their heads. When the people have no food; have no jobs, have no desire then, that is not a Nation it is as dung. What they should be really concerned about is the whole Planet. You all want to be number 1 but, when you look at the world and its condition you should be on the bottom of the list. It is about life and the condition it is in and not about missles, war, and abuse. So, to America, China, UK, Mexico, Iraq, Egypt, Iran etc. Stop acting like children and grow up!

[hortonhearsawho2]

and we send a check to, where?

[adamnb]

The world may be watching a major thaw between Russia and the U.S., not based on any idealistic virtues of the two young Presidents, but upon real national interests. There is a rough triangularity in the relations between the U.S., Russian and Iran. In that sense, the U.S. badly needs Russian support. The missile defense system in E. Europe may become an especially useful bargaining chip in unlocking the situation.

As Henry Kissinger said, Russia has always wanted a partnership with a great power, and its preferred partner is the U.S. Governor Palin was more correct than she ever thought when she pointed out the importance of the proximity of Russia to Alaska. A Siberian pipeline across the Behring Straits to Alaska, to connect to the Alyeska pipeline (or the planned TransCanadian gas line), is not a much greater undertaking than the planned pipeline to China and Japan that is already under construction.

Recall that in their last meeting, Putin reported that he and Bush discussed a highway across Siberia to connect to Alaska. Of one thing I’m absolutely sure; two oil men don’t sit around discussing road building. Substitute pipeline for highway, and the conversation makes sense.

[levibatgirl]

Tro// anthem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KynpC1e9I9E

[PerfectSense]

A excellent summary of liberal polices for the past 30 years.

[hortonhearsawho2]

Sure, why not, if dumbuha**kipedia says it so...

[Zulu4ever]

R U a former "f@rt" member?

If yes, then you're dismissed!

[hortonhearsawho2]

go sit in of the corner of the classroom...again.

[Zulu4ever]

Looks like the 'ol f@rt$ have officially left the building... :D

Cheers Tol, pang & FF!

[DemandaDivine]

Can we have an adult, intelligent conversation now?

[HyperInfluential]

Yes! Although, there's not really a lot to talk about. Obama's going to speak to the Russian head of state at some point...so...that's good.

I'll tell you a story about Russia anyway. One day I was in a bar in the Netherlands, and I happened to sit down next to a Russian guy. We got to talking, and it was an odd, freeing sensation to be on "neutral ground," so to speak, nobody's home country, so I told him about our movie Red Dawn, and how much of an impact it had on my generation. I said, "We really thought you guys were going to parachute in at any moment and start shooting!"

He looked me right in the eye and laughed, and said, "We thought the same thing about you!" We had a good laugh over that one, the kooky way things can get blown out of proportion sometimes, and he said there were "similar movies" in Russia, though he didn't go into detail. Maybe when the reset is finished we could get some of those up on YouTube with translations!

[AliMB]

I once had a Russian classmate who in the same post-grad program with me in Europe. He was about to enter the Russian Foreign Service and had already spent some time in the political trenches of Moscow. He told me something that sticks with me till this day:

He said that in Russian politics, there are no friends and there are no enemies. You are either strong and will be respected, or you are weak and will be manipulated.

Unfortunately, I think that the Kremlin views President Obama as weak, as evidenced by some of their policy decisions; from announcing a m i s s i l e deployment to Kaliningrad the day after the election, to b r i b i n g the Kyrgyz government into evicting US forces, to rejecting the President’s overture vis-à-vis Iran.

That is why the President must be cautious with his 'conciliatory' approach e.g. the “resetting the button” memo. If he listens to his seasoned advisors, then it won't come as any surprise that Putin and his proxy Medvedev will look for any opportunity to parlay its interests in the most insidious of manners (and irrespective if its to the detriment of US interests). IMO, Russian foreign policy is the epitome of g a n g s t e r realpolitik.

The President must communicate to the Russians that foreign policy amateur hour is over at the White House.

[Zulu4ever]

Questinia See Profile I'm a Fan of Questinia I'm a fan of this user permalink

That's Sir F@rtalot to you!

------------

No "make up" ?

[hortonhearsawho2]

u flush b4 wiping,hence, mr sticky fingers licking good...

[HyperInfluential]

I think it's very exciting to see this confirmation for my previous statements regarding a strange tendency among GOP posters attempting to "make jokes" to use the excretory system as the focus of nearly all their humor. What does this tell us about their mental landscape?

We know that in many Arab cultures, the preferred insult is related to the soles of the feet, but for our corn-fed American Republican youths, when they get on a wild tear and decide to really mock the heck out of liberals, it always comes back to excretory functions, organs, and body parts sooner or later. Sometimes, obviously, much sooner.

I wonder if research would uncover a difference in toilet training methods used in right-wing households versus those used in liberal-progressive ones that could account for this overwhelming preference for excretory jokes and references by this political party's members. Perhaps another explanation might be a difference in diet? Do Republicans eat more red meat, and consequently have more unpleasant associations for excretion than Democrats?

An interesting question, totally off topic but I believe it's relevant to the situation at hand.

[punk]

Why do you presume they are Republican posters?? Earlier, you assumed I'm a Republican, but I'm not.

Perhaps you should re-examine your assumptions and the way you make conclusions.

[HyperInfluential]

Whatever you think you are, when you perpetrate an attack on this site, you're working for the GOP, regardless of whether or not you realize it. They would like it very much if people who have a new interest in the blogosphere, because of the new FoxNation site, came to Huffington Post for the first time, and saw nothing but infantile excretion humor.

Heck, Glenn Beck thinks he's a comedian. The world judges by your actions, not by what you think you are, which I imagine you see as something witty and edgy, or at least disaffected and jaded, or random and chaotic.

Go to sleep already, the grownups need to talk. If you want to impress people, bring back useful data they can harvest, not just prove you can keymash all night long.

[hortonhearsawho2]

Why defend what you are not ?

[DemandaDivine]

Would you expect anything less from basement dwelling Americans. They obviously have never progressed past an infantile stage of humor.

America should work on their educational system, from this place they obviously are not doing a very good job.

[ToL1]

pangurban

You have a head that is a triangle...amazing graphic.
--------------------------------------------

ROFLMAO

[VegasBabe]

(-)

[ToL1]

Why VB?

[hortonhearsawho2]

yo, A**wipe, back ur cell...

[Zulu4ever]

suzyco See Profile I'm a Fan of suzyco I'm a fan of this user permalink

To make you my bitchh.

----------------

After clarifying "that", the other day...i'm not the least bit surprised at reading that kind of tr@sh talk ...from YOU!

[suzyco]

mission accomplished.

[FFthemess]

Aren't you one of the dearly def@rted?

[Zulu4ever]

What do YOU mean?

Are you gonna continue to make childish thre@t$? I thought you recently graduated from that... 8)

[pangurban]

Do you have a giant codpiece like Boosh in his flight suit...now that is an image

[VegasBabe]

this is to easy....why does one bother?

[pangurban]

Uh, oh...you have "attacked" her...she is very sensitive and may sue you for pointing out the obvious.

[hortonhearsawho2]

there's a twist, fan hitting the Sh*t, the whole world betting ur the Fan...

[DemandaDivine]

Wow. Pages of off topic discussion about some "other" side. Treehouse and fa:rts?

I guess someone else is driving the bus now.

[FFthemess]

The bus has 6 fl@rts.

[pangurban]

they got bored over there..so now they have become tr0lls here...what they disliked they have become..oh, such an old story.

[DemandaDivine]

Is that what's going on? Do you think at least on this side you can grow up then?

[ILibertine]

I'll bet Putin got a wry smile, at the least, out of Bush's "sense of soul" comment concerning him.

It will be interesting to see how Obama functions internationally. Certainly it's time for some nuance in our relationships as our policy under Bush has created dangerous polarizations.

There's always something nutty going on someplace in the world, and there's a number of matters that provoke grave concern, such as politics in and affecting Pakistan. I think constructive dialogue, even if elusive in agreements, is necessary to abort potential misunderstandings and clearly delineate stance. Thus I hope Obama and Medvedev's meeting would at least establish a mutual respect to the extent deserved.

[rosal]

Yes, I hope our President will present another face of our country, one of cooperation and understanding. He seems to be gifted at relating to people. Let's hope is a productive meeting.

[kennybean]

Oh finally, a sane voice. I can't figure out what's going on here, but I'm frightened!

And I second your wish for Presidents Obama and Medvedev to work together in respect. I think there's reason to be hopeful; reports tonight are saying Medvedev's attitude has been olive-branchy. So to speak!

[HyperInfluential]

Oh these ugly persons are just part of the internet ecosystem, like mosquitoes.

They come along naturally and hit any random site, just for the sport of confusing people, though I suspect these ones are probably paid either in cash or College GOP brownie points, for their performance tonight, which suspiciously coincides with the opening of the new Fox News opinion site, FoxNation.com, which they apparently think compares to this newspaper in some unfathomable way, and is thus competition for them, and "fair game," to use a Scientology term, for any sort of harassment.

[HyperInfluential]

I hope the media begins to cover things in a lot more detail now that we're beginning to acknowledge the world is a complicated place. The Russia/Georgia conflict a few months ago was actually very complicated, but the media made it out to be like, "Mad Russian Bear attacking everything in sight for no reason! Everyone practice civil defense drills!" It will be interesting to see how the talks develop, and if we get full coverage of them.

[shaggyct]

One thing about this President is that he is well traveled and worldly enough that he understands the influence that a nation's culture and history has on its interactions with other nations. He understands the lesson of history, that communication is not weakness, but is in fact a show of confidence (this point of the conversation is where we can anticipate the predictable conservative use of flawed Chamberlain analogies, which is their default historical comparison for any given foreign policy situation).

Insular, Americentric right-wingers are generally inept when it comes to foreign policy. They assume that everybody "thinks" like Americans, and when other nations behave in ways that don't reconcile to that belief, the right-wingers express their confusion through chest-th.umping bellicosity. They never appreciate the fact that other powers have national interests that don't always jive with ours, and that not every nation shares the American "mindset". They also fail to appreciate that diplomacy is the art of compromise, not threats.

Unfortunately, thanks to the position President Obama has been left in, we're not exactly negotiating from the same position of strength as we were eight years ago, so he has his work cut out for him.

[VegasBabe]

tis true, but some here have faith in his skills and ability to communicate effectively. I do.

[suzyco]

The irony of you having to misspell the word fa rt is not lost on those of us who don't have to misspell words any longer if we choose not to.

[punk]

Wake me when Bush has spread freedom in the Middle East.

[rosal]

You'll be 600 years old, maybe older

[VegasBabe]

L M A O....Zing!

[shaggyct]

You mean we're not being greeted with flowers and chocolates yet?

[Rumplestiltskin]

google "Kurds"

[Supremacist]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7874180.stm

[vjoseph]

Did you get lost?

[Rumplestiltskin]

I don't think he does much anymore. You slept a bit too long.

[CitizenFarmer]

If a newspaper stated that Obama bypassed the trip across the Atlantic and he and Michelle decided to walk the Atlantic, Huff would write about how nice and edgy Michelle looked and how Obama was able to take strides in the water beyond that noted in past water walkers.

[Ping]

Doesn't that just burn you up?

[vjoseph]

You can always go to a blog that won't write about the Obamas

[shaggyct]

So WTF are you doing here?

[discourse jockey]

Wrong website. Go back to FoxNation.com.

[teron678]

Why is Medvedev photo there .. it should be Putin .... Medvedev is & will always be Putin's Pup.pet ...... just like Dubya was Cheney's .......

[brooklyncitizen]

"George W. Bush claimed a personal chemistry with former Russian President Vladimir Putin."

That is FUNNY.

[SCG]

Seems like Vladimir felt it too?

[adey]

ky for him/ky for "her."

[DemandaDivine]

He only saw his soul because he recognized it.

[Malamati]

Personal "chemistry"? What, they did Owsley together?

Love that Orange Sunshine!

[Rumplestiltskin]

But, but Bush. Move on.

[shaggyct]

No. Not now. Not next year. Not next generation. Never.

You people have been whining about Jimmy Carter for thirty years, and now you want us to "move on" (oh, the irony) from the most disastrous President in history after less than 100 days? Yeah, dream on, pal. We will never let the world forget. We will never let our children forget. We will never let future generations forget what this monstrous fai.lure of an excuse for a President did to our country.