169
wind or solar, and reducing US military commitments and entanglements in regions so far
away. (Author’s interview with Professor Benjamin Sovacool 2017)
Failing to engage at a high level with the new Turkmen president after Niyazov died in
2006. That was a real opportunity for the US to build a relationship with the new president
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow—I believe the new president was open to different points of
view compared to the neurotic Niyazov regime. But internal opposition in the State
Department held this back. It was opposition from the Human Rights officials in the State
Department, who approached the relationship transactional. Before we can engage at a high
level, the new Turkmen president must do X, Y and Z. So they put demands before relationship building. That just limited the US in having influence on the Turkmen government.
(Author’s interview with former US Diplomat in the Caspian Sea Region 2017)
The Reset Policy and Its Failure
Obama’s “Reset” policy on Russia, the fourth to occur since the end of the Cold
War, was launched by Barrack Obama, and showed better success than all previous
attempts, at least in the president’s first term, paving the way for disarmament talks,
partnerships in Afghanistan and Russian entry to the World Trade Organization
(www.aljazeera.com.tr 2017). However, the success of in-roads here has been attributed to Dimitri Medvedev’s brief tenure as president during this time, as, with the
return of Putin, charges were leveled against the US for supporting opposition
protests.
This charge was followed by the granting of asylum to NSA whistleblower
Edward J. Snowden. With the US’ open support for regime change, followed by the
tacit backing or non-backing of democracy movements in the Middle East, Moscow
built a strong case with which to accuse the West of causing tension in Ukraine,
which would mark the point at which energy politics were affected permanently
(www.aljazeera.com.tr 2017). The Obama administration’s biggest strategic mistake toward Russia was in taking outgoing former Russian president Dimitri
Medvedev far too seriously. But authorities would likely argue that the US had little
choice, in that Medvedev was Russia’s president and Obama’s partner (https://www.
theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/10/china-is-pivoting-to-central-asia-but-iswashington-paying-attention/280921/ 2017). A former diplomat however argues
that Obama’s reset policy was aimed at bridging a number of divides which had
developed in the mid-2000s:
The Obama Administration rightly recalibrated US policy to focus on broader overall
engagement on a wide range of political, security, economic, and other issues. Regarding
Russia, the Obama Administration’s so-called ‘reset’ policy aimed to move past a range of
tensions that developed in the mid-2000s, but ultimately proved unable to sustain the kinds
of developments in Russia and in Moscow’s relations with its neighbors that would make a
positive relationship achievable. (Author’s interview with Ambassador Ross Wilson 2016)
The resumption of tension with Moscow was marked by a spat of diplomatic
moves, ranging from abstention of the Sochi Winter Olympics to the cancelation of
a G-20 meeting scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg, later transforming into more
Continuity Between Bush and Obama
wind or solar, and reducing US military commitments and entanglements in regions so far
away. (Author’s interview with Professor Benjamin Sovacool 2017)
Failing to engage at a high level with the new Turkmen president after Niyazov died in
2006. That was a real opportunity for the US to build a relationship with the new president
Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow—I believe the new president was open to different points of
view compared to the neurotic Niyazov regime. But internal opposition in the State
Department held this back. It was opposition from the Human Rights officials in the State
Department, who approached the relationship transactional. Before we can engage at a high
level, the new Turkmen president must do X, Y and Z. So they put demands before relationship building. That just limited the US in having influence on the Turkmen government.
(Author’s interview with former US Diplomat in the Caspian Sea Region 2017)
The Reset Policy and Its Failure
Obama’s “Reset” policy on Russia, the fourth to occur since the end of the Cold
War, was launched by Barrack Obama, and showed better success than all previous
attempts, at least in the president’s first term, paving the way for disarmament talks,
partnerships in Afghanistan and Russian entry to the World Trade Organization
(www.aljazeera.com.tr 2017). However, the success of in-roads here has been attributed to Dimitri Medvedev’s brief tenure as president during this time, as, with the
return of Putin, charges were leveled against the US for supporting opposition
protests.
This charge was followed by the granting of asylum to NSA whistleblower
Edward J. Snowden. With the US’ open support for regime change, followed by the
tacit backing or non-backing of democracy movements in the Middle East, Moscow
built a strong case with which to accuse the West of causing tension in Ukraine,
which would mark the point at which energy politics were affected permanently
(www.aljazeera.com.tr 2017). The Obama administration’s biggest strategic mistake toward Russia was in taking outgoing former Russian president Dimitri
Medvedev far too seriously. But authorities would likely argue that the US had little
choice, in that Medvedev was Russia’s president and Obama’s partner (https://www.
theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/10/china-is-pivoting-to-central-asia-but-iswashington-paying-attention/280921/ 2017). A former diplomat however argues
that Obama’s reset policy was aimed at bridging a number of divides which had
developed in the mid-2000s:
The Obama Administration rightly recalibrated US policy to focus on broader overall
engagement on a wide range of political, security, economic, and other issues. Regarding
Russia, the Obama Administration’s so-called ‘reset’ policy aimed to move past a range of
tensions that developed in the mid-2000s, but ultimately proved unable to sustain the kinds
of developments in Russia and in Moscow’s relations with its neighbors that would make a
positive relationship achievable. (Author’s interview with Ambassador Ross Wilson 2016)
The resumption of tension with Moscow was marked by a spat of diplomatic
moves, ranging from abstention of the Sochi Winter Olympics to the cancelation of
a G-20 meeting scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg, later transforming into more
Continuity Between Bush and Obama