ABSTRACT
Having identified three previous postwar attempts by US Presidents to construct cooperative relationships with the Soviet Union, all of whichfailed, the author examines in detail that embarked upon by President Clinton since his election in 1992. Lookingfirst at the roots of Clinton's policy towards the disintigrating USSR during the election campaign and at the perceived orientation of the new administration towards domestic rather thanforeign issues, he analyses the formation and execution of White House policy towards post-Soviet Russia and concludes that while it has been subject to serious dfficulty, and while thefuture remains uncertain in the extreme, US strategy towards Russia and the otherformer Soviet republics is unlikely to change radically while Clinton remains President.
