OBAMA PRESSES RESET BUTTONS WITH RUSSIA

In a significant development regarding reductions of ‘Nuclear

Armament’, USA and Russia agreed to cut down their nuclear
warheads by 1/3rd of the existing stockpiles. Pact to this effect
was signed by Dmitry Medvedev and Barrack Obama in Kremlin
on Monday. Obama’s maiden visit to Russia, the once staunch
enemy of USA, is viewed as corollary of US administration’s
vow to end hostilities and undo grotesque legacy of George W.
Bush. Both leaders signed an agreement which would pave way
for reduction of nuclear warheads by one third of existing
stockpiles. This agreement would culminate in signing of a
Treaty, said Obama and Medvedev, which will be formally
prepared by the end of this year. This Treaty will replace START,
1991 (strategic arms reduction treaty) which is scheduled to
expire in December 2009.

This Summit marked the pressing of ‘Reset Buttons’, a

significant change in American foreign policy of which Joe Biden
had elaborated upon in Berlin conference early this year.
Obama emphatically said ‘we resolve to reset US-Russian
relations so that we can cooperate more effectively in areas of
common interest’. It is a ‘reversal of drift’, the drift which had
started during Bush regime. This détente will help create
congenial atmosphere in the region, they claimed.
Sources say that USA currently has 2,200 operational
nuclear war heads whereas Russia has 2,790 such warheads. It
is pertinent to mention here that US-Russia combine constitute
90% of global nuclear arsenals. Therefore one third reductions
is a substantial one and ‘Operationalisation’ of this treaty would
mean huge reduction in this stockpile. This would probably
pave way for similar gestures by other nuclear powers across
world.

This Summit is also important for this region because

relation between these two powers had sunk all time low in
post cold war era on Georgian issue. The Georgian invasion on
Ossetia and Abkhazia was supported by USA and other NATO
countries were viewed by Russia as an invasion on itself.
Russian military built-up in Black sea followed by NATO’s open
support to Mikhail Saakashvilli, the Georgian president, has
made US Russia confrontation somewhat imminent, thanks to
good sense prevailing that the situation was saved from going
to all out war. This Summit of Obama and Medvedev would
certainly instill confidence in the region and help return
normalcy restored.
However only signing of this agreement does not guarantee
success of this resolution. In 2002 also Bush and Putin had
singed such agreement which was sacrificed at the altar of
mistrust and clash of interests. This Summit was different from
that of George Bush and Putin in the sense that it meant
business only and lacked jokes and personality clash. Obama
and Medvedev were straight forward and meeting ran for 5
hours only. Obama oratory skill is widely acknowledged
especially after his Cairo speech. He is not hector in his speech,
a departure for Bush’s style.
Obama choose to meet Putin also, because like many others,
Obama too share the view that it is Putin who runs the country,
a gesture though seems apparently related to courtesy and
etiquettes, blended with hardcore diplomacy and reality.
Obama ecstatically said that this pact would lead them to hold
a ‘Global Summit on Nuclear Arms reduction’ next year.
Apart from international media hype on this Pact, both leaders
failed to reach to an agreement on ‘Missile Defense System’
of Eastern Europe. They remained at loggerheads on this, an
issue on which USA has been rigorously pursuing and Russia
persistently opposing.

Obama’s hidden Agenda- This summit was not given the

kind of coverage in State (Russia) controlled media, which
generally such meetings get. TV channel one, the state
controlled electronic media, did not show Obama’s visit in
headlines. It is naïve to believe that the channel might have
skipped it. This may be a calculated and calibrated telecast.
Russia deliberately wanted to keep this visit at low pitch.
Obama’s visit, according to Russia, might be aimed at killing
two birds with one single stone. Obama knows it well that
American success in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Israel and
Palestine largely depends on Russia’s stand on these issues.
Bygone are days when US had the ability to dictate terms. Now
there is ‘no room on the chess board’ and US can no longer
‘play with the pawns’ as Paul Bracken has put it in his book ‘Fire
in the East’. Obama has to undo Bush’s legacy which was
characterized by ‘with us or against us’. America can no
longer afford hostilities all around the world. US Billion dollar
national debts largely due to its whimsical war against terror
have thrown this country in quagmire, of which USA is
desperately trying to get out.

Iran’s obstinacy, belligerence and ‘ready to fight attitude’,

North Korea’s defiance, Israel’s reluctance to come to terms of
much talked ‘two nation solution’ and seemingly unending war
in Afpak region have shattered Obama in particular and
Americans in general.
Obama wants at least one success in this journey so that he
can use it as sojourn in his long march to boondocks. Putin, a
staunch nationalist and hardcore realist, is unwilling to give this
leverage to Obama. Russia itself is recuperating from its
economic shambles and desperately trying to regain a place in
the world order, it has lost after eclipse of USSR. The post cold
war era has so far not been a happy experience for Russians;
they have lost the coveted status of ‘SUPER POWER’ and
economic hegemony is a bygone chapter.
Russia wants to show that it matters again and USA cannot take
it for guaranteed. Gazprom crisis was deliberately created by
Russia to make its presence felt in the international arena.
Acceptance of MISSILE DEFENCE SYSTEM as proposed and
conceived by Bush cannot be acceptable to Russia in the above
backdrop. For many experts ‘Missile defense system’ is an
obsession of Bush same as STAR WARS or SDI (strategic
defense initiative) was for Ronal Reagan. Hopefully obsessions
and personality clashes did not figure in this summit. Well begin
is half done, Obama and Dmitry Medvedev have miles to walk
on bumpy roads in boondocks before they reach a resort of
happiness and détente.