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I think it's a mutual blow off. The problem is that we have the most to lose by it since they have vast natural resources, and are in position either to help us, or to help our enemies. If the situation is going to change, someone has got to take the first step, and unfortunately, our government has decided that it is going to stand on "principle" rather than trying to do something constructive. The result is that the Russians are helping our enemies instead of us. In the long run, that is going to come back to haunt us. Looking 20 years down the road, it may be that we are snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in the Cold War.

think it's a mutual blow off...If the situation is going to change, someone has got to take the first step,...

I disagree, I feel President Bush has made a real effort to open up relations with President Putin, and has been ignored, slapped down for his efforts. At some point you have to accept that the other guy has his agenda and that it doesn't include getting along.
I hope that the President after Putin will be more open to working with us.
Unlike many here at Free Republic, I have long since moved on from the Cold War, I realize that Russia is not the Soviet Union, and see opportunities there. But many Russians have not accepted that the dissolution of the Soviet Union and independence to the other former Soviet states means that Russia will not have the same importance in the world.
Some Russian are concentrating on restoring the Union (without the stupid ideology, of course). It's called looking to the past, and it means you're backing into the future, and when you back into the future, you don't see what's coming.
Putin is backing into the future.