When Russia and the West Built Something Shared

Diplomacy

![George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin at a summit press conference beneath the emblem of Russia’s presidency, 15 July 2006. Photo: www.kremlin.ru / Sergey Guneev. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (attribution to www.kremlin.ru required). Source: Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bush_and_Put

At the Head of the Table: The Year Russia Chaired the G8

In 2006, Russia for the first time — and, as it turned out, the only time — assumed the presidency of the G8, the club of the world’s leading industrial democracies. The culmination of the year was the July summit of leaders in Strelna outside St Petersburg: a country that fifteen years earlier had stood on the other side of the world’s great divide was setting the agenda for the most prestigious forum on the planet.

· 4 min read

Everything but Institutions: The Four Common Spaces of Russia and Europe

Everything but Institutions: The Four Common Spaces of Russia and Europe

In 2003, Russia and the EU agreed on four common spaces — integration without membership. Prodi’s formula: everything but institutions.

· 5 min read

George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin on the grounds of Camp David, 26 September 2003 — “tieless diplomacy”. Photo: White House / Eric Draper. Licence: public domain. Source: White House Archives https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/09/images/20030926-3_dsc2741putin-515h.html

A Weekend at Camp David: The Tieless Diplomacy of 2003

Six months after their quarrel over Iraq, Bush hosted Putin at his private retreat. That said more about the relationship than any communiqué.

· 4 min read

The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center burning minutes after the attacks. New York, 11 September 2001, 09:03. Photo: Kenneth Gross / NIST. Licence: public domain (work of a U.S. federal agency).

The First Call: How Russia Backed America After 9/11

On 11 September 2001, the first leader to reach the White House was the president of Russia. So began the closest period of Moscow–Washington cooperation since the Second World War.

· 4 min read