#4 Lech Kaczynski
Being wooed over missile defense. Anti-Russian and pro-American almost to a fault, the Polish president came to power promising to strengthen his countries ties to the West. Kaczynski’s ardor paid dividends for Bush in 2008 when Poland, over angry Russian objections, agreed to host part of a planned U.S. missile- defense shield on its territory in exchange for aid for military modernization. In doing so, the Polish government set back relations with Russia and provoked the Kremlin into stationing missiles in Kaliningrad, just across the Polish border.
The relationship between Obama and Kaczynski did not start off a on good foot. The two leaders spoke over the phone soon after Obama’s election, after which Kaczynski immediately told the press that Obama had pledged to continue work on the shield. The U.S. president-elect said he said no such thing.
Several months later, Obama sent a letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev offering to halt work on the shield in exchange for cooperation on other issues. The apparent misunderstanding has had domestic political repercussions for Kaczynski, helping the Polish opposition caricature him as a bit of a buffoon. His government has also faced several embarrassing reports of senior politicians — including Kaczyinski’s twin brother Jaroslaw, a former prime minister — making racist jokes about Obama.
