MOSCOW — When President Obama visits the Kremlin next week, he will face the task of trying to reset relations with a government that has built its power base and defined itself by its anti-American, neo-Cold War stance.
It's an opportune moment for the United States to warm up a frosty relationship. Moscow could help on some of Washington's most intransigent foreign policy troubles, including Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea. But in Russia, there is scant evidence of a desire for a fresh start.
Despite a reshuffle of power that installed Russian leader Vladimir Putin as prime minister and his career underling, Dmitry Medvedev, in the presidency, the Kremlin's policies remain unchanged, including its habit of drumming up anti-American sentiment to bolster political power at home.
Shortly after it warmly welcomed Obama to the White House, the Kremlin lavished a $2-billion loan on the government of impoverished Kyrgyzstan, which in turn evicted the U.S. military from a base considered strategically important to the war in Afghanistan.
Orchestrated in Moscow, the power play cost the United States months of embarrassment and a rent increase of more than $40 million to persuade Kyrgyzstan to reverse its decision.
Russia risks destabilization on its borders if the war in Afghanistan further deteriorates. And on Friday, a senior official said the Kremlin would allow the U.S. to ship weapons headed for Afghanistan across Russian territory.
But analysts said Moscow still feels a compulsion to interfere with U.S. goals. Anti-Americanism, some say, has deep roots in Russia's view of itself, its insecurities and aspirations to become a superpower once more.
"Domestic politics is very much grounded on opposition to the West," said Denis Volkov, a researcher at Moscow's Levada Center who has conducted polls on Russian attitudes toward America. "It's very often used as an excuse, as a pillar of the popularity of Russian leaders and as the proof of the rebirth of Russian power."
In Russia, cozy ties with the West are associated with the impotence, humiliation and corruption of the 1990s. Hostility, on the other hand, is considered a hallmark of strength, smacking of Soviet empire and Putin's oil-rich ride in the presidency.
