July 23, 2007 (LPAC)--"Strategic partnership," not a "new cold war," can be achieved by Russia and the United States, "all the more so after the two Presidents met in Kennebunkport," wrote Academician Sergei Rogov, director of the Institute of U.S. and Canadian Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, in a commentary published by Novosti today. While many pundits are talking of the return of the Cold War, "I beg to differ," Rogov wrote. Instead, he sees five potential "pluses" for strategic relations, Rogov wrote. Rogov was among the distinguished Russian participants in the Feb. 8 Moscow conference on the "Lessons of the New Deal for Today's Russia and the Whole World," which honored the 125th anniversary of Franklin Roosevelt's birth.

"Putin emphasized again that we shared common democratic values and were moving toward the same goal," Rogov said. "Bush spoke in much the same vein. Neither side backed down from its positions, but there was no talk about ideological incompatibility. To sum up, the prospect of strategic partnership emerged on the basis of national interests and democratic values."

Rogov then lists the various areas which are now on the table for discussion: a follow-up to the START agreement on nuclear arms limitation, the finalizing of a long-awaited agreement on nuclear cooperation, and a gradual convergence of the two countries' position on the issue of Iran, with Rogov mooting the possibility of creating a regional forum, similar to the Six-Party Talks on the North Korean nuclear issue, to deal with the Iran nuclear problem.

Rogov points to these factors as a clear indication that there is not a new  "cold war" brewing, but rather a new possibility for a real strategic partnership. One hopes that will be the case.

There will soon be a follow up to Kennebunkport with a series of technical meetings on July 30, which will prepare for the 2+2 ministerial-level meeting in September, with the Defense and Foreign Ministers of both countries. While the nuclear cooperation agreement is moving forward, as long as Dick Cheney is ensconced in his Massachusetts Avenue mansion, the possibility of a "hand grenade" going off remains the likely option.