U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin have pledged a strong personal relationship in past meetings. However, observers point out, Bush’s intensified second-term focus on democracy could be rubbing the Russian leader the wrong way.

At the same time that Bush has stepped up his calls for global freedom, Putin has said his nation will pursue a model of democracy befitting its history and traditions. Aside from the democracy question however, the two leaders share common interests on such issues as the war on terror, relations with Iran, and the safeguarding of nuclear arsenals.

Hear a discussion about the status of U.S.-Russia relations and the outcome of the Bush-Putin summit.

Guests:

Mark Silva, White House correspondent for the Chicago Tribune.;
Marshall Goldman, Professor Emeritus of Russian Economics at Wellesley College, Associate Director of Russian Studies at Harvard University and author of “The Privatization of Russia: Russian Reform Goes Awry.”;

David Satter, visiting scholar at the John Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute and author of “Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State.”;

Christopher Cox, U.S. Congressman (R-CA).;

Paul Starobin, contributing editor of the Atlantic Monthly, author of the article “The Accidental Autocrat.”