Washington’s new ambassador to Russia, reset-architect Michal McFaul, was sworn in on Tuesday.  US-Russia relations have certainly taken a bit of a beating of late.  In December, Hillary Clinton faced verbal excoriation from Vladimir Putin for her stance on the protest movement.  In addition to this, missile defense remains unresolved, the situation in Syria is a nexus of East/West disagreement, and despite some flexibility in its verbal stance on Iran, Moscow remains resolute in opposing sanctions.  So how will McFaul, who was a special assistant to the President on Russian and Eurasian affairs, fare on his Russian ‘adventure’ as Clinton puts it?  Many have taken the nomination of the Stamford Professor as a sign that Obama is committed to re-galvanising the reset. Dan Peleschuk from Russia Profile considers the sixth ambassador’s credentials, and whether these will be enough to make a difference to bilateral relations in the tense pre-election period: