| ID | 132155 |
| Title Proper | Why reset failed |
| Other Title Information | diplomacy with Rogues Rarely works |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Rubin, Michael |
| Publication | 2014. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Meeting her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for the first time as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton famously presented him with a red, plastic "reset" button. "We want to reset our relationship and so we will do it together," she explained, adding, "We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?" "You got it wrong," Lavrov responded.
The problem, in hindsight, was less a botched translation than it was a misunderstanding of the Russian mind. Like too many presidents and secretaries of state before them, President Obama and Secretary Clinton assumed that the problems hampering relations lay more with their predecessors than with America's adversaries. Obama and Clinton were more willing to blame President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for what Obama caricatured as knee-jerk hostility to diplomacy with Russia than President Vladimir Putin himself. Putin took full advantage of this mistake. |
| `In' analytical Note | World Affairs US Vol. 177, No.2; Jul-Aug 2014: p.74-81 |
| Journal Source | World Affairs US Vol. 177, No.2; Jul-Aug 2014: p.74-81 |
| Key Words | Sergei Lavrov ; Hillary Clinton ; Russia ; Obama ; Diplomacy ; Vladimir Putin ; Foreign Policy |