OP-ED: Time for a U.S.-Russia Energy Alliance (Moscow Times, RUSSIA)

U.S.-Russian relations are in poor shape. The old thinking has failed. As President-elect Barack Obama's Defense Secretary Robert Gates put it after the Russia-Georgia war: "For the first time, both the United States secretary of state and secretary of defense have doctorates in Russian studies. A fat lot of good that's done us."

The United States needs a new, 21st-century strategy based on new thinking, new resources and new projects. The strategy must, of course, serve U.S. interests, but it must also be based on a clear sense of what Washington wants from Moscow and what can be reasonably expected from U.S.-Russian relations.

Should we expect a continuation of the current blend of rivalry and collaboration?

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