People in power were brought up under the communist regime. All of this makes democracy weak and civil society still nascent.
The shoulder-patting is still there, but the mutual trust that existed after Sept. 11 is gone. The reason is objective there can't be a friendship between the heads of states while the bureaucracies of both nations view each other with distrust.
Russia is using strong economic levers. With the growth of oil and gas exports it has become much richer than it was in the 1990s and it is translating this economic might into political influence and power.
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