It seems to me that the administration wants to make sure that they have a constructive dialogue with Moscow. They want to be sure that they are on the right side of a new tough Russian president.

This has had a considerable impact on Russian willingness to accommodate U.S. interests.

Color revolutions succeed when the authorities are not only authoritarian but also lack self-confidence ... Until President Lukashenko loses popularity in Belarus, I don't think his regime will have any serious problems.

Clearly, the Bush administration is going to welcome her with open arms. She is not Schroeder, and that is a welcome change.

We have vastly different hopes and expectations, as far as the U.S.-Russia relationship is concerned, in Moscow and Washington. What we need, however, is to manage this troubled relationship -- we don't want this relationship to go out of control.

[Reached by phone, National Interest co-publisher Dimitri Simes returned the insults.] Years ago, he predicted the end of history, which proved to be somewhat premature, ... If somebody expects they will build their magazine at the expense of the National Interest, those hopes, I'm certain, will also be premature.