Starting Fresh With Obama (Moscow Times, RUSSIA)

President-elect Barack Obama has formed his team of advisers, but it would be difficult to call them "friends of Russia." This reflects in part the cool relations Washington and Moscow have had for nearly eight years. No wonder the Kremlin is taking a close look at statements made by members of the new administration to discern whether Washington will support many of the same positions adopted by former U.S. President George W. Bush or if he will finally make changes to U.S. foreign policy that the whole world has long awaited.

Nobody in Russia is expecting that our relationship with Washington will improve overnight. Obama's team has more pressing issues to deal with in other parts of the world such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. After an unsuccessful attempt to keep the United States as the unchallenged leader of a unipolar world, Washington will need the support of allies and partners more than ever. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed this idea during her Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 13: "America cannot solve the most pressing problems [in international affairs] on our own, and the world cannot solve them without America."

Russia's direct participation is required to solve many of these global problems, particularly in Eurasia, where the interests of both countries coincide.

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