Angela Stent, Renowned Russia Scholar; Professor of Government and Foreign Service and Director of the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, Georgetown University; Author, The Limits of Partnership: U.S.-Russian Relationships in the 21st Century

Professor Stent argues that the same contentious issues – terrorism, missile defense, Iran, nuclear proliferation, Afghanistan, the former Soviet space, the greater Middle East - have been in every president's inbox, Democrat and Republican alike, since the collapse of the USSR. She vividly describes how Clinton and Bush sought inroads with Russia and staked much on their personal ties to Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, only to leave office with relations at low points, and how Barack Obama managed to restore ties only to see them undermined by a Putin regime resentful of American dominance and determined to restore Russia's great power status. What are the prospects for the future? Is the effort doomed to fail again and again?