Two months ago, very few of us could have imagined such intense talks and deep discussions between Moscow and Washington, because we had actually forgotten how it could be. For many years, if not decades, diplomacy at all levels, but particularly between the United States and Russia, meant not an open-ended process of negotiation, bargaining, discussion, exchange of interests, explanation of mutual interests, and so on. What we know as classical diplomacy from previous centuries has been forgotten or dismissed, because in the so-called liberal international order, based on the assumption that there was one side who knew how to live and what to do. There was no room for discussion or bargaining. This is not about imperialism — it’s about ideology. But now, the situation is different. Now, the American side, embodied by Trump and his team. They assume that diplomacy is about bargaining and deals, which is no guarantee of success at all, but it’s a completely different kind of discussion that accepts that the other side may have interests and the right to defend them.
Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of Russia in Global Affairs magazine, had a conversation with Glenn Diesen. They discussed the possibility for Russia to transform relations with the US. While the EU used to be considered the “good West”, it is becoming the key opponent.
The conversation is available via this link.
