UNITED STATES, RELATIONS WITH

RomanovRussia and the United States established relations in the 18th century. After a period of rivalry in North America, Russia opted to sell its colony of Alaska to Washington in 1867. During World War I (1914–1918), Russia and the U.S. briefly fought together on the side of the Entente before the Bolshevik Revolution terminated the former’s role in the war. Shortly thereafter, U.S. troops invaded Soviet Russia, hoping to quash the new regime. Relations were not formally established with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) until 1933. After a brief alliance during World War II, Soviet-American relations plummeted, and by 1947, the two nations embarked on an epic geopolitical standoff known as theCold War, with the two countries nearly going to war during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. With the election ofRonald Reaganin 1980, U.S.-Soviet relations, which had warmed somewhat under détente, entered into a deep freeze with Reagan engaging in militarist rhetoric, which was returned by the geriatric leadership of the Kremlin. The U.S.’s surreptitious support to the mujahideen in Soviet-occupiedAfghanistanfurther hampered relations.

The ascendancy ofMikhail Gorbachevin 1985 triggered a new direction. Gorbachev’s reforms ofperestroikaandglasnost, combined with new agreements on arms reductions, ushered in a period of cordial relations. Reagan’s condemnation of the USSR’s “evil empire” in theEastern Blocplaced intense pressure on Moscow to loosen its control of the region, culminating in the 1989 issuance of the so-calledSinatra Doctrine, which granted autonomy (as well as ultimate responsibility for their actions) to the Communist parties of the Soviet bloc; ultimately, the countries ofPoland, EastGermany, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary abandoned the one-party system and their defense relationships with Moscow.

Arms reduction initiatives, including START I, and normalization of relations continued under the new presidentGeorge H.W.Bush(1989–1993), resulting in support from the USSR for the U.S.-led invasion of Moscow’s erstwhile ally Iraq in the Persian Gulf War (1990–1991) and the reunification of Germany. During the Bush presidency, independence movements among theunion republicsgathered steam, particularly in theBaltic StatesandGeorgia. While American popular opinion favored suchseparatistmovements, Washington pursued a realpolitik policy of balancing democratic idealism with maintenance of its burgeoning relations with Gorbachev. Bush stood behind both Gorbachev andBoris Yeltsinduring the failedAugust Coupin 1991, providing key information to the latter about Sovietmilitaryactivity.

In the fall of 1991, as the USSR dissolved, Bush sought to expand his relations with Yeltsin, while simultaneously reaching out to the nationalist leaders of the non-Russian republics. In 1992, the United States committed itself to helping the new Russian Federation and other post-Soviet states to secure “loose”weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear material, under the Nunn-Lugar Act. The United States and Russia also moved to expand cooperation onspaceexploration and defense, while eliminating Cold War–era impediments toforeign trade, communication, and cultural exchange. In 2007, United States and Russia approached parity in imports and exports, with bilateral trade totaling nearly $20 billion. The U.S. is also an important source offoreign investmentfor Russia, though the figure—at $3.6 billion in 2007—is now on the decline, with offshore and European investors commanding the lion’s share. Under PresidentBill Clinton(1993–2000), Washington committed to helping Moscow through its painful transition from a command-and-controleconomy; however, the imposition ofshocktherapy, combined with the U.S.’s failure to fully deliver on its promises of aid to Moscow, resulted in a meltdown of the Russian economy. A subsequent purge of Yeltsin’s pro-Western, market-oriented appointees produced a new leadership, personified by the rise ofYevgeny Primakov, that was moreEurasianistin its orientation and opposed to America’s domination of the world system. With a concomitant rise in poverty and a precipitous drop in their country’s international position, many Russians came to view the United States as benefiting from the country’s destabilization, particularly during the war inChechnya. Despite this, Clinton and Yeltsin maintained a strong personal relationship throughout their two terms as president. In 1999, however, expansion of theNorth AtlanticTreaty Organization(NATO) into east-central Europe and plans to include the Baltic States, combined with events in Yugoslavia, drove post-Soviet relations to their nadir.

Vladimir PutinandGeorge W.Bushwere able to improve relations with a June 2001 summit in Slovenia, at which Bush declared he was able to get a “sense of Putin’s soul.” With theSeptember11 attacks, Putin was the first world leader to call President Bush, vociferously condemning theterroristacts and committing Russian support to the effort to punish the perpetrators, a stance that was unpopular with much of Russia’s political elite. This turning point in relations resulted in extensive cooperation oncounterterrorism, Russian backing of U.S. military installations inCentral Asia, and Washington’s reestimation of the value of theShanghai CooperationOrganizationandChechenlinks to the globalIslamistjihadi movement. Relations began to sour with Washington’s declaration of its intention to invade Iraq in 2002; Moscow organized a group of “old” European states (France, Germany, etc.) to block the military adventure, but to no avail.

Buttressed by growingoilprices and challenged with a rising terrorist threat, the Kremlin adopted a number of authoritarian measures within the Russian Federation, curtailing press freedom and limiting representativedemocracy, while acting increasingly aggressively toward its former Soviet neighbors, especiallyUkraineandGeorgia. Both trends drew pointed criticism from the Bush White House, which angered the Kremlin with its recognition of Kosovo’s declaration of independence and new plans for a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. With the ascendancy ofDmitryMedvyedevand the election ofBarack Obamain 2008, relations have changed little. Russo-American ties remain frayed after theSouth Ossetian War, which was viewed by Western policymakers as an ominous warning to aspiring NATO members in the Russian periphery. Medvyedev’s overt backing of Kyrgyzstan’s 2009 decision to oust the U.S. from its base at Manas has further demonstrated that Russia seeks to marginalize U.S. interests in thenear abroad.

See alsoMiddle East; Nuclear Weapons; Serbia; United Nations; Uzbekistan.