The Round Table “Russia and the US: the Way We See Each Other” is an event in a series organized by the Gorbachev Foundation and the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Research Center. Opening the discussion were Olga Zdravomyslova, Executive Director of the Gorbachev Foundation, Leon Utkin, Director of US Agency for International Development in Russia, and Emil Pain, Science Manager of the Kennan Institute Moscow Office. The panel discussion included presentations by Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Moscow Carnegie Center,  Blair Ruble, Director of the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Research Center, Lev Gudkov, director of the Russian Public Opinion Studies Center (Levada – Center), Sam Green, Deputy Director of the Moscow Carnegie Center, Elisabeth McCeon, the head of the Ford Foundation Office in the Russian Federation, Fedor Lukjanov, Editor-in-Chief, journal “Russia in Global Politics”. 

The speakers have dealt with a wide range of issues connected with the Russian-US relations and the images of both countries that in large measure determined the climate of these relations. They came to the conclusion that currently this climate was determined by mostly symbolic rather than military opposition. The speakers have dealt with the new challenges conditioned by the changed global context and stereotypes – those that came about during the Cold Was as well as those that were shaped in the recent years. As a rule, emphatic attention is being paid to a particular line in the complex and controversial history of Russian-US relations as well as their contemporary state – their changes, their dramatic collisions, their ups and owns. But a simplistic vision leads to a situation when the psychology of these relations becomes “abnormal”. There are “parallel worlds” of seeing one another in Russia and in the USA that are also reproduced in politics, in mass media and in public opinion. This is the reason for increasing importance and topicality of professional expertise and analysis, of meaningful public debate – to counteract demagogical discourse and superficial, if not provocative conclusions. 

The presentations triggered a lively discussion involving well-known experts and researchers. 

The pivotal idea of the presentations and the discussion was the fact that the Russian and the US visions of one another – multilayered and inherently controversial as they are – develop and reflect the absolute thing: our countries that lived through different stages in the history of their relations continue as partners. The present and the future of mankind in the 21^st century depends on the quality of this partnership, on the ability of Russia and the US to maintain their permanent dialogue and act jointly when faced with the global problems and threats. 

The Round Table was on the Web site. It is available on www.a-z.ru

Short-hand account will be available on Web site