According to the expert, the EU is doomed to be merely a junior partner of the U.S. in international politics for the next few years. The majority of Europeans do not mind, as they prefer to focus on their internal affairs.
Unlike the EU, Russia sees itself playing a specific role in Bush's world order. Beslan for Russia was like 9/11 for America. Now Russia intends to combat international terrorism aggressively, including outside its own border, and expects America to understand.
The U.S., however, has set Russia tough goals in exchange for its support in the anti-terrorist fight in Chechnya and the North Caucasus as a whole. America wants Russia to end cooperation with Iran in the nuclear technologies sphere, support US policy in Iraq, and recognize US geopolitical interests in Central Asia and the Caucasus. The Russian leadership's current attempts to integrate Ukraine, Belarus and Central Asian nations into a single space are highly likely to be met with opposition in Washington. Nor will America ever accept Russia's growing control over global energy routes in the West and Asia.
Europeans will try to re-integrate the U.S. into multilateral cooperation in the hope that the Bush administration will accept the UN reform, sign the Kyoto protocol and rebuild the Middle East economically, and not through war. Meanwhile, Russia will try to recover its status as a great power using its energy potential, the joint fight against terrorism with the U.S., and its restored authority in relations with Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other former Soviet republics.
