Of all the newsworthy aspects of Joe Biden’s Eastern Europe trip, the press chose to seize on the part of the story that conforms to the narrative they’re most familiar with: the VP’s “Russia gaffe” in a Wall Street Journal interview. The interview came at the end of a four-day trip intended to reassure allies like Georgia and Ukraine that their needs would not be forgotten as the U.S. tries to “reset” its relationship with Russia. In it, Biden seemed to gloat about the U.S. having the upper hand, and suggested that Russia’s weak domestic position will force it to bend to U.S. interests. According to the Times, Russian leaders have taken Biden’s remarks as reversing -- or at least casting serious doubt upon -- the administration’s intention to turn a new page with their former Cold War adversary. For all the talk about Biden's authority and the legitimacy of his comments, the biggest problem with his remarks is not so much the blustering bravado as the lack of understanding it betrayed: While we may be in a strong position relative to Russia, its former satellite states are not. Russia has shut off gas flows into the Ukraine three times in the last two years. And Georgia and its neighbors are still reeling from Russia’s invasion last year, and remain troubled by the thousands of Russian troops still stationed in the disputed territories. Some observers are so concerned with the region’s vulnerability that on the eve of Biden’s trip, several prominent figures, including former Polish President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lech Walesa and former Czech President Vaclav Havel, sent an open letter to the administration. In it, they expressed concern that the U.S. will pursue a “Russia first” policy that sells out their interests in exchange for Russia’s cooperation on issues like nuclear proliferation. In Tblisi, Biden was greeted with posters that said things like, “You are our only hope,” and “We count on you.” For now, Georgians may get their wish: Biden’s remarks seem to have set back the thaw in U.S.-Russia relations. But this confusion is the inevitable result of the administration’s meek attempts to appease everyone by avoiding firm commitments, which have made leaders in the region resort to reading between the lines of otherwise insignificant events; conditions, in other words, that quickly lead to misunderstanding. --Marie Diamond
