The 'Putin is bringing back the USSR' crowd maintain that behind all our enemies stands a Russian. The 'Putinists' regard him as the least evil of a whole lot of evils, which in essence summarize Russian history.
Looking forward to your reply :-)
The State Department should try to be a friend to Putin and Russia.
But, of course, Putin works for the Russians, not for us, so the State Department should always and always have that in mind. Putin knows that Bush works for Americans, not for Russia. It's NOT supposed to be a popularity contest on who is the most liked leader in the world.
Russia and Putin will do what's best for Russia and that might run counter to what the U.S. wants, but that shouldn't deter the U.S. from friendship. The reverse is true too. I think Putin believes that and works on that premise, much to the chagrin of Bush/America haters. The world LOVED Clinton because he worked more for them that for us.
The State Department should also have no qualms whatsoever about flexing muscles where our interests lie. Anything less would make us look weak and stupid...and THAT Putin and Russia would not respect.
We have more in common with Putin and Russia that we have differences, imho. The Russia/Putin haters will always be with us, like there are Germany haters, France haters and Saudi Arabia haters.
It's a useless exercise, I think, not to forge ahead with Russia and Putin. They have much to offer us. The Russians and the U.S., btw, sit on most all of the coal on the planet. We should look ahead for that reason too.