ABSTRACT
The end of the Cold War at Soviet initiative would, it was widely anticipated, help herald in a new era of greater Russian–American cooperation and trust. Following mutual disappointment in the 1990s, the new ‘global war on terror’ to which Russia rapidly signed up appeared to be a new opportunity to forge a closer partnership and alliance, but this opportunity was again squandered. In this chapter, using the statements of American ‘public intellectuals’ and policy think-tanks themselves as evidence, I argue that the dominant American discourse towards Russia has in fact for a long time been excessively negative, and that the gap between the dominant mode of discourse and the reality of facts and perceptions on the ground is now glaring. This has become particularly noticeable of late in three main areas – namely in the ‘managed democracy’ debate regarding Russia, in the discussion of Russia’s so-called ‘energy weapon’ vis-à-vis the EU, and in the rhetoric of the ‘New Great Game’ in the Trans-Caucasus and Central Asia. The conclusion calls for Europeans to help initiate a new form of public discourse regarding Russia that would be more appropriate for a multipolar world and more likely to foster mutual trust and confidence on all sides.
