On the eve of the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, it is valuable to look beyond the immediate agenda of nuclear proliferation and energy security by pinpointing the core differences between America and Russia. Naïve commentaries assert that the governments in Washington and Moscow are essentially identical as both focus on promoting their national interests at the cost of allies and neighbors. Some even conclude that U.S. policy now presents the bigger danger to global security.

Claims of congruence between American and Russian policies have two consequences: They give fuel to anti-Americanism, and they help whitewash Moscow’s attempts to re-establish a new empire. There are fundamental differences between American and Russian strategies and objectives.