“Life in Russia has never been as hard as under President Obama”. This humorous remark began circulating in Moscow in 2015 when US-Russia relations hit new lows over the crisis in Ukraine. Back then, Russian TV blamed the conflict in Ukraine and Russia’s own economic woes on the West, while vitriolic attacks against the US surpassed those seen even in Soviet times. Fearing that a Clinton presidency would likely be tougher than Obama, policymakers in Moscow were more than a little relieved when Donald Trump was elected.
Yet the chances now are that, in a few years, the joke may turn …read more