ABSTRACT
When the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989 it signified the end of an epoch in US-Russia relations. Within 2 years, the Soviet Union would cease to be, and the United States would have led a UN coalition on a policing mission in the Middle East that gave hope for a New World Order. In light of such change the prospect for a harmonizing of relations between Washington and Moscow seemed not only possible, but probable. Yet, it has been impossible to provide a consistent narrative to the subsequent relationship. The aim of this paper is to examine bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington in the post-Cold War era, and particularly in the twenty-first century, in light of a special relationship discourse.
