Forging a New Partnership

Russia hoped a phone call would help change the world.

On September 11, 2001, Russia's then president, Vladimir Putin, called U.S. President George W. Bush—making Putin the first international leader to speak with Bush after the attacks. The two leaders agreed that terrorism strengthened the need for closer U.S.-Russia relations. As Putin later declared, "In the name of Russia, I want to say to the American people: we are with you." (Story continued below...)

Extending that hand of friendship to the United States marked a potential turning point in Russia's relations with the West. We hoped that we could work closely with the United States and its new president to combat terrorism and in the process finally bury the last remnants of cold-war mistrust. We wanted to build a new foundation for worldwide stability through multilateral cooperation. And we felt President Bush reciprocated that desire.

Unfortunately, after September 11, Washington— apparently at the insistence of lower-level officials—chose to largely ignore international alliances. Instead, it sought to dominate the globe in countless ways, from abandoning the antiballistic-missile treaty to invading Iraq. Such unilateral behavior isolated the United States, made international relations hostage to divisive ideology and undermined America's credibility as a leader.

Soon a new U.S. president will take office. Once again, international crises loom. Once again, Russia sees the opportunity for nations to cooperate as equals in confronting these crises—and to respect the differences between us that will inevitably arise. This time, we hope the entire new U.S. administration will recognize the need for such cooperation—and the need to rebuild America's credibility.

One place to begin would be for Moscow and Washington to agree on a new strategic-arms-reduction treaty to replace the treaty that expires in 2009. We are studying a recent U.S. response to our proposal along these lines, and we hope the new president will move the talks forward.

But we can do more. President Dmitry Medvedev recently outlined a new vision for a Euro-Atlantic security system based on a legally binding pact that would abandon the old East-West divisions inherent in today's ossified institutions. We invite the new U.S. administration to join us in moving beyond the existing patchwork system to ensure stability from Vancouver to Vladivostok.