Relations between Russia and the United States have gone through many ups and downs since the collapse of the Soviet Union; sometimes, the two sides have tried to get closer to one another through détente. Some other times the war of words has escalated between the parties; in such cases, many analysts and politicians have spoken of the possibility of outbreak of a new war. Under the current conditions, despite US President Donald Trump’s personal desire to improve relations with Russia, which he clearly demonstrated during his election campaign, the US political structure and intelligence and security institutions actually opposed the improvement of relations with Moscow.

We are currently witnessing that not only disputes between Moscow and Washington exist, but it can be said that in some areas tensions between the two sides have been exacerbated. For example, the issue of security in Eastern Europe, the presence of Russia in South America, NATO expansion to the east, and military manoeuvres that NATO hosts in various parts of Europe, as well as various issues in West Asia region, are still among tensions between the two sides.

On the other hand, the issue of Venezuela has become, in the current period, another area of ​​competition between Moscow and Washington. Over the past years, with regard to the Venezuelan government’s policies inherited from the government of Hugo Chavez, the country has had deep differences with the United States. The US has made great efforts towards regime change in Venezuela. In contrast, Russia has been a traditional ally of Caracas. For this reason, Moscow today has been working hard to prevent the regime change from taking place in Venezuela. This issue has rekindled tensions between Russia and the United States in the South American region.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia had greatly reduced its presence in the region, but in the current situation, it seems that Venezuela has again become a place to increase the geopolitical rivalry with the United States so that each of these actors supports one of the two domestic parties in Venezuela. Russia considers the administration of Maduro to be the legitimate government and believes that the action of the opposition is a coup attempt in the country. But America views the Maduro government unlawful and supports the opposition. This contradictory approach has led Venezuela to become one of the spheres of geopolitical disagreements between Russia and the United States.

Another controversial area between Russia and the United States and the West is the human rights issue that has been widely debated between the two sides since the past. While the West believes that human rights is a universal issue, and what they are bound by the West must spread all over the world. The Russians, however, have a different opinion. They believe that human rights should be outlined based on the cultural, social and general conditions of a country. Therefore, there has been a divergence of views on the past between Russia and the West (both the United States and Europe).

At present, there are also tensions between the two sides so that each year, the United States accuses the Russian government of violating human rights, suppressing dissidents and curtailing civil liberties in various reports. Russia responds by releasing reports through the Foreign Ministry accusing Washington of similar charges. Indeed, the human rights issue before having an applicable effect has been turned into a political charge, propaganda and psychological warfare to influence the public opinion on both sides.

Among other disputed areas between Moscow and Washington are the Middle East and West Asia, where there has been a controversy between the parties for long years. At the current stage, the Syrian crisis is one of the most important controversies between Russia and the United States.

Generally speaking, the Russian outlook about the region is different from that of the US. Russia wants stability in the region and supports maintaining the status quo, while Americans tend to overthrow or change political systems that do not serve the US interests. In this regard, in general terms, the United States and Russia are pursuing two different approaches on the West Asia region, and this different approach has led to geopolitical disagreements between the two countries, especially with regard to the region’s major crises and dossiers.