For Russia, Obama’s the Best of a Bad Lot

Who does the Kremlin favor to be the next U.S. President? Is it John McCain, the hard-nosed hawk who grew to maturity during the Cold War? Or is it Hillary Clinton – the militarily well-studied Senator from New York? Nope – it seems that, according to this op-ed article from Russia’s Kommersant newpaper, Barack Obama is the best bet for Russia – although only marginally so. Konstantin Kosachev who is chairman of the Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, writes, ‘Barack Obama looks like the candidate that can be expected to take the greatest strides toward Russia, since unlike McCain, he’s not infected with any Cold War phobias, and unlike Clinton, he won’t be tied down by the old habits of his advisors.’

By Konstantin Kosachev*

Translated By Igor Medvedev

February 7, 2008

Kommersant – Russia – Original Article (Russian)

The bet by Democrats that Americans want to change everything from U.S. policy to their leader’s sex and race may be fully justified. But I wouldn’t focus exclusively on the intrigues of the Democratic race. After all, the race won’t be decided until November, and the competition won’t be between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, but between a Democrat and a Republican. And it is still too early to write the Republicans off.

From the Russian point of view, the choice is not a pleasant one. Senator McCain, who is known for comments on Russia that run along the lines of “Carthage must be destroyed,” is certainly no gift. His desire to expel Russia from the G8, like many other of his positions that are in the style of the Cold War, are sincere. Traditionally it has been felt that we [Russia] get along better with Republicans, but apparently this senator-veteran seems ready to break that stereotype.

Our problem with the Democrats is that (in our view), they place too much emphasis on ideologically-driven human rights issues. However under the current administration, Washington’s ideology-based foreign policy probably exceeds that of their domestic opponents. It’s clearly time that we stopped “fearing” the Democrats, especially in terms of the inevitable “democratic moralizing” by a Democratic president. For a country that has made its democratic choice, such calculations are largely unimportant.

In terms of attitude toward Russia, neither the declarations of Hillary Clinton nor those of Barack Obama go beyond the traditional views of the American establishment. Both candidates say they recognize the need to cooperate with Russia. But how sincere these statements are is difficult to judge. We know that Clinton has retained many people from her husband’s team that have no particular love for Russia. Obama, as they say, is not shy about communicating with Zbigniew Brzezinski [considered a Kremlin foe].

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