US-Russian Questionable Relations

The Russian invasion of Georgia this past August put George Bush in a difficult situation. He could either side with Georgia, a longtime Western Ally and respected member of NATO, or ignore the invasion to strengthen his friendship with his buddy, Putin. To be fair, Bush did say he was 'concerned' about the situation, and sent a few humanitarian planes to Georgia for support. And Georgia did receive some American media coverage (below the stories about Michael Phelps' gold medal victories, of course). But it is still clear that Putin remains one of Bush's closest friends.

This past Tuesday though, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff met with General Nikolai Makarov of Russia for the first time. Although the US never specifically punished Russia for its unwarranted invasion of Georgia, US-Russian relations were clearly disrupted. The secret high level military meeting in Helsinki was a reported success despite the fact that no details were released about the nature of the discussion. Admiral Mullen said "I'll go home encouraged by the opportunities that I had to discuss the issues in a very direct way, face to face, and the commitment that in the future we will stay engaged." Other topics such as NATO relations, cooperating on the fight against terrorism and blocking increased narotics trafficking were also discussed.

The United States' current assessment of the Russian threat is very low. Admiral Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, "have challenged the Kremlin to behave better in global affairs but have noted that Russia's armed forces do not pose a global risk." The crisis was briefly addressed by both presidental campaigns in August, but has since disappeared from the more pressing issues of debate. Both campaigns felt Russia's invasion constituted aggression and urged an immediate response. Will US foreign policy with Russia change with the election of a new president? Or are the candidates just talk?