Wednesday's Geneva summit between the leaders of the world's two foremost superpowers will be held against the backdrop of past events between Washington and Moscow, but much of it could potentially rise and fall over one thing: the chemistry between veteran President Vladimir Putin and new US President Joe Biden.
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For now, at least, the White House seems to have chosen to continue pushing a confrontational narrative vis-à-vis the Kremlin. "I'll tell him what I want him to know," Biden said this week in a semi-ominous, semi-mysterious tone, to the applause of soldiers he visited before his flight to the Swiss capital. But it is well known that strong words do not impress the former KGB officer, who only views them as weakness.
The weakness the Democrats have demonstrated in the international arena has many consequences, some of which are evident to this day.
Take Syria, for example. The Obama administration, in which Biden served as the vice president, declared that Damascus' use of chemical weapons was a "red line" that cannot be crossed. President Bashar Assad was unfazed by the threat nor did he have any qualms about using chemical weapons against his people, and when push came to shove, Washington was silent.
The vacuum created by the United States' inaction was filled by none other than Putin himself, who had meanwhile struck an alliance with the Assad regime.
For a long time now, it seems that the Americans prefer to cast the Russian president in the role of the perfect enemy, over more obvious choices, such as Iran, with which they are currently trying to broker adherence with the 2015 nuclear deal.
This approach in US foreign policy is starkly different than the one promoted under the Trump administration.
Still, one cannot ignore the fact that Biden is a seasoned diplomat, and perhaps his talents as a statesman are about to be revealed. His private meeting with Putin will likely be very polite and cordially, but the statement given to the press in its wake may change the tone.
The American president must decide whether his Russian counterpart is a friend or a foe, and things are not as clear-cut as they may seem, especially with Jerusalem and Tehran watching closely.
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