A piece from Yevgeny Bazhanov in the Moscow Times takes a look at what we can expect from the U.S.-Russia relationship this summer.

Amid the economic crisis and after the unsuccessful, misdirected policies of former President George W. Bush, it is likely that U.S. President Barack Obama will no longer pursue a hegemonic foreign policy. But this certainly does not mean that Obama will give up U.S. ambition to be the prominent global leader in international affairs. The problem with this is that other players –namely, Russia, China and the European Union — share similar leadership ambitions. And with these competing and conflicting ambitions, the potential for tension and confrontation remains. What’s more, world leaders, with the strong backing of their respective military-industrial complexes, never tire of exploiting — or inventing — external threats to strengthen the state and their personal authority. (…)