Obama is by no means perfect, but he represents an enormous improvement over Bush

By Marshall Goldman, Kathryn W. Davis Professor of Russian Economics, Emeritus, Wellesley College; Associate Director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University

Underlying everything is the pride Americans have in the fact that they elected a black as president, not something many other countries in the northern hemisphere, including Russia will ever be able to do.

Q: What was realized of more than 500 Obama's pre-election promises? 

A: The media here have tabulated the 500 promises.  Not surprisingly, only a few at this point have been carried out. But some of the big ones — especially in foreign policy have been — in Russian-US relations, I give Obama enormous credit for doing what he has done. We still have 3 years ahead and changing national and international policies is, as so many have said, like turning an ocean tanker around. It takes time and space — so I am impressed by how much change — not how little — has already taken place.

Underlying everything is the pride Americans have in the fact that they elected a black as president, not something many other countries in the northern hemisphere, including Russia will ever be able to do.

What do we have after 500 pre election promises? I think we have a country that is much more self confident. George W. Bush was not good for the US. The economy endured a recession and our foreign policy was needlessly brash and provocative. This was a terrible legacy to leave for a successor.

Q: How do U.S.-Russian relations develop under new administration? In which spheres do you see that "perezagruzka"?

A: Obama is by no means perfect, but he represents an enormous improvement over Bush. This is true for domestic policy but also foreign policy. Vice President Biden expressed it nicely with the word "reset". This is by no means a victory in foreign policy for Russia or the US — it simply means let us reexamine our relationship and see if we can behave like responsible adults, something not always the case in the past.

My sense is that the Russians have responded well to the invitation and not tried to score points.

This is what we have all too often lacked on the past of both parties.

Q: What perspective in relations between Russia and United States under Obama and his administration can you point out today? 

A: I see this in recognizing that both the US and Russia have many problems in common — i.e. Islamic terrorism, energy shortages, earth warming.  Both countries seem to have come to the conclusion that it makes more sense to work together than to try to embarrass each other over such matters.