The withdrawal by Barack Obama of the Bush Administration’s plan to deploy anti-ballistic missiles in Europe certainly marks a change, and one that was necessary in order to redefine relations between Washington andMoscow.Nevertheless, this change by no means constitutes a break from the Bush Administration’s policy. Technically speaking, other systems will simply be deployed. Strategically speaking, Russia’s power must still be ‘contained’ so that US national interests – which remain strikingly constant – may prevail.