The Putin-Khodorkovsky Battle: Implications for U.S.-Russian Relations

Washington and some U.S. business elites are taking the side of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia's richest oligarch, in his power struggle with President Vladimir Putin. The Bush Administration is advancing Khodorkovsky as a pro-U.S. alternative to Putin. As a result of this clash, Washington and Moscow will further drift apart. In the second installment of a two-part piece, we examine the mechanism of this struggle inside and beyond Russia, as well as its likely outcome and consequences for Russia and relations between Moscow and Washington.