Why the honeymoon? This is a question an inquisitive person might ask when informed by the media that the second meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin had been a smashing success — like the first one a month ago. After a cold spring full of spy scandals, deportation of diplomats, mutual warnings and overall muscle flexing, an idyllic summer arrived. Putin and Bush are sworn friends, the White House promises to discuss the planned missile shield with Moscow, the Kremlin returns the favor by saying it has nothing to fear from the United States and both sides declare their aim to make big arms cuts.
The Russo-American summit was the only bright spot at the Genoa meeting of the Group of Eight industrialized nations, plagued by contradictions between Washington and the rest of the Western world and violent anti-globalist protests. The tragic culmination of the event was the death of a 23-year-old Italian, killed by the riot police in a spontaneous act of self-defense and the ensuing escalation of violence in the city's streets.
Unlike their European peers, both Putin and Bush demonstrated little sympathy for the victims in the antiglobalism camp. It looked like they had no clue as to why so much fuss had been made about the death of a young man who had provoked the police. Maybe this shared emotional numbness, which looked quite odd in light of the empathetic comments made by European leaders, can partially explain this rather unorthodox partnership: Both Putin and Bush represent a very conservative electorate in their respective countries and, like the people who voted for them, have difficulty with concepts like pluralism, human rights and grass-root movements.