Why Putin and Obama Can’t Get Along

Peter Rutland, Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, was interviewed by New England Public Radio for a story about President Barack Obama’s frosty relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as the two countries try to reach deal regarding Syria’s chemical weapons.

“Putin has been from the very beginning saying to America, ‘You’re overreaching, you don’t understand the Arab world, stop it,'” said Rutland.

Of disparaging statements Obama has made about Putin, Rutland said: “It was diplomatically incredibly clumsy, because obviously Putin would react badly to that…The relationship was dead on arrival, the personal relationship.”

Rutland is also professor of government, professor of Russian and Eastern European Studies, and a tutor in the College of Social Studies.