The lack of a dialogue between Russia and the United States leads to situations when we have to speak unilaterally: people in the United States express their opinion of Russia, & vice versa. In the absence of such a dialogue we are forced to address mostly our domestic audiences, while our potential partners in such a dialogue are nowhere to be seen.

The absence of a dialogue leads to misunderstandings. If there was such a dialogue then maybe we would have received a reasonable explanation what American exceptionalism means and how we should take such a statement.

Does it mean that the United States thinks that it’s superior to Russia and other nations and that it has exceptional rights on the international scene?

Does exceptionalism mean that the United States is above international law as was suggested by some American critics during the times of the Bush administration?

So maybe we would have received answers that would have allowed a better understanding of such questions. In the absence of dialogue, there are risks that any statements will be considered in the negative way. They are being used on both sides in order to prove how much animosity there is from one country towards the other country, and it happens both in the United States and in Russia. And we have heard also some statements on the Russian position on Syria, for instance, which are not at all accurate. Russia was accused of helping massacres, having a “disgusting policy” etc. Thus some things we hear from the United States are sometimes quite tough and harsh. If at every point we react in a purely emotional way, I think it will lead us to a disaster. So I think that we should understand why it happens and we should try to prevent these negative readings of each other’s intentions and of each others’ meanings.

Image: Dmitry Rozhkov. CC BY-SA 3.0.