Most Western powers have been skeptical about the way Russian elections are held and the new government was seen as a body that is under the shadow of Vladimir Putin. Not surprisingly, the Medvedev government, which revealed the future foreign policies of the Russian government, seems not to deviate from the earlier acrimonious policies set by Putin. Putin had clashed with the West on a number of issues such as installation of U.S missile defense system in Eastern Europe, skepticism about the American war of terror, closer ties with China, and opposition of eastwards expansion of the NATO alliance.

A new found confidence supported by oil revenue and the desire of other nations to see an alternate voice being heard, other than that of the U.S has allowed the Medvedev government to continue the previous foreign policies. Russia recently angered many countries by vetoing a U.N Security Council resolution to punish Mugabe on charges of violence and misuse of power. Medvedev shot back that it is against any resolution that seeks to punish a country due to the way elections are held. The U.S especially has been a vocal critic and Zalmay Khalizad, the U.S ambassador to the UN felt the Russian Veto raises questions about it’s reliability as a G-8 partner.

However, what seems to have angered the Russian government is the American military presence in the neighborhood, especially the installment of a radar system in the Czech republic and Russia has suddenly cut down the oil supplies to the central European nation. This has raised fears among many countries about Russia’s ability to use energy as a leverage to establish its policies. Russians are worried about the NATO expansion and also the U.S military action in Iraq.

Russia has been a vocal of critic of the American foreign policies and the continuation of Putin’s policies may actually be good in many ways, especially in a situation where war looms over Iran. Russia has ruled out its support for military actions against Iran and stresses the importance of dialogue. The new foreign policy doctrine also stresses higher importance to relations with India and China. Calling the relationship between the two nations as being the most important vector in Asia, it calls for closer trilateral co-operation with India and China. Russia’s new foreign policy doctrine might have a more balancing effect though it may not sound sweet enough to the Western ears, specially in a scenario where the stability of Middle Eastern countries is at risk.

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Via: WashingtonPost278144