Peter Lavelle

Russia-US relations may or may not be on the mend - or "reset" - after Barack Obama's visit.

Even I'll admit (and I'm hard to please) there's some genuine goodwill on both sides to repair a relationship that has been out of whack since the end of the Cold War. However, the same goodwill remains a rarity to many in the Western media. For them, the Russian people weren't grateful enough and even didn't deserve Obama's visit.

We are told that the "Great Obama Show" flopped in Russia. America's "commander-in-speech" didn't leave Russians cheering and clamouring for more. Added to this is the assumed reason: It is not Obama's fault - the Russian people should be blamed for not embracing the world's greatest gig on the political stage. This line of thinking is typically Western, particularly American, cultural arrogance. Politics should not be equated with entertainment.

Articles in The New York Times ("In Russia, Obama's Star Power Does Not Translate") and The Washington Post ("In Russia, Obama's Limited Reach") serve as examples of a particular attitude towards Russians: they react to political events and ideas in ways contrary to supposed international norms.

When Obama visited Prague in the spring, he was welcomed as a titan. This shouldn't have surprised anyone - many Czechs are disillusioned with the European Union. Membership of the bloc was supposed to mean affluence, stability and a seat at the adult table with the powerful Western countries. Well, things worked out differently and badly. For the Czechs, Obama appeared to be the long-awaited agent of change. Today the Czech Republic is a second-tier European country that reports to the Brussels bureaucracy and is dead set against Washington's anti-missile plans for Eastern Europe.

Obama has equivocated on this issue and is a strong supporter of global nuclear disarmament. Thus, the Czechs had a number of reasons to embrace Obama.

In Cairo, the Obama magic worked again. Washington's perceived crusade against the Arab and Muslim world was addressed when he spoke to Egyptian students. Obama's address was truly amazing and historic. He admitted the wrongs committed by the US and its allies against the countries and peoples of the Greater Middle East.

Importantly, he said that the US would again be an honest broker in the region after decades of favouring the Israelis. Whether this will happen is anyone's guess, but Obama's admission that American policies had failed and were unjust was reason enough to celebrate him.

In Moscow, things played out differently. Obama's handlers probably thought the string of successes in Prague and Cairo could be replicated here. If he could diverge from the usual Washington script and even utter the word "sorry," then everything would be alright. Well, this didn't go down well here. Forgiveness isn't really the issue for Russians.

Particularly young Russians want much more from the US than the Czechs or the Egyptians do. What the Western media described as Obama's star qualities were never really in play here.

Russia has its politicians and rock stars, but they're not idolised like gods.

Mikhail Gorbachev claimed to know what was best for the Russian people and he failed. Boris Yeltsin claimed to know the same and failed (with a lot of American support). Russia's current political elite is a lot less ambitious. It hopes for the best and admits there are hard days ahead.

America's expectations of leaders is not the international norm, it's a dangerous exception. Obama does indeed have rock star qualities, but he isn't a rock star - he's a politician of hope. Western media will eventually trip him up and bring him back to earth. In the meantime, Russians will continue to demand a better standard of living and status on the world stage.

All of this is not too sexy, but it's what most Russians want from their leaders. When they want a rock star, they go to a concert or turn on the radio. They're not looking for a political leader from abroad to play that role.  n

Peter Lavelle is a political commentator at Russia Today television. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily represent those of RT.