Rice Voices Disappointment Over Changes In Russia Under Putin

[Purveyor]

WASHINGTON, June 11 (RIA Novosti) - The U.S. secretary of state has said that while Russia has proved a valuable partner on certain issues over the past eight years, Washington is disappointed by the way the country has developed.

In a lengthy article published in the Foreign Affairs journal, covering various areas of American foreign policy, Condoleezza Rice singled out Russia and China as countries that have risen in power and influence, while failing to fulfill their growing responsibilities.

The article, entitled 'Rethinking the National Interest', said that under President George W. Bush, U.S. foreign policy has been governed by "uniquely American realism," and that relations with the rising powers of Russia and China "have been rooted more in common interests than common values."

Although Washington and Moscow have found common ground on key issues, "Russia's internal course has been a source of considerable disappointment, especially because in 2000 we hoped that it was moving closer to us in terms of values."

As 1999 ended, the ailing Boris Yeltsin handed over the reins of power in Russia to Vladimir Putin. The ex-KGB man went on to victory in presidential polls three months later. The next eight years saw Russia's reemergence as an economic and military power, following the turbulence of the 1990s. Some of the main criticisms leveled at Putin by Western governments during his time in office, which ended last month, were over the alleged stifling of democratic freedoms and human rights in the country, and Russia's increasing aggressiveness on the world stage.

"Our relationship with Russia has been sorely tested by Moscow's rhetoric, by its tendency to treat its neighbors as lost 'spheres of influence', and by its energy policies that have a distinct political tinge," Rice wrote.

On China, she said Washington has tried to show the country's leadership that with "full membership in the international community comes responsibilities," singling out Beijing's environmental policies, Tibet, support for the Sudanese government, and its role in Myanmar.

RIA Novosti: http://en.rian.ru/world/20080611/110076293.html

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. "Environmental policies?"

:wtf:

[Sam Ervin jret]

2. And they have all that oil. Let's GET 'em!

[tom_paine]

3. It is always amusing to listen to Bushies criticize the Russian "BushPutinists"

when as the entire world can see, there's not a nickle's worth of difference between our Bushie Tyrants and the BushPutinist Tyrants who rule Russia.

Not a nickle's worth. Bush and Putin are the same tyrant, basically, a kinder and gentler tyrant.

Both Bush and Putin (and their henchpersons like Rice) have created the same changes in their countries, shutting down freedom and paving a clear road to future tyrannies.

It makes me laugh. Listening to Sleezy criticize Putin is like watching Sleezy criticize her image in the mirror.

[BobTheSubgenius]

4. Pot, meet Kettle....