Reflection of the Role of American Exceptionalism in the Failure of the Reset Policy Between the US and Russia

After Barack Obama became president and came into office in 2008, Washington showed a new strong inclination to fix the damaged relations with Russia. In the early years of pursuing this new policy, it seems the relations between them put in the right direction but contrary to this optimism and before finishing the first term of Obama’s presidency, relations began to deteriorate. There are varying reasons for that,, but without falling in the trap of single cause explanation, this study seeks to show how hidden ideas of exceptionalism in American political society and Obama’s national security doctrine as well, affected relations, particularly on the Reset policy. This study by gathering documents that narrate the existence of a political-cultural pressure on the Obama administration shows that American exceptionalism as a force of strategic culture has had a remarkable role in preventing of advancing of reset policy between the US and Russia.