Three moments that define Obama's unserious approach to Russia

As Russia marches into Ukraine – in complete defiance of western condemnations and the recognized order expected in civilized society – I can’t help but recall three moments that seem to define where we’ve come to in the U.S./Russian relationship:

1. Shortly after becoming Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton joins her Russian counterpart in a silly publicity stunt in which the two of them press a “reset button” that is supposed to make it as though the rancor and distrust that had developed to that point simply never happened. Yep. The reset button. And people actually criticized me for not knowing enough about foreign policy.
2. Barack Obama is caught by a live microphone asking Russia’s then-figurehead president, Dmitri Medvedev, to relay to Vladimir Putin that he would be able to deal with him more flexibly after he got re-elected.
3. Obama chastises Mitt Romney for calling Russia our leading geopolitical adversary. “The 1980s called,” Obama said. “They want their foreign policy back.”

What do we really have here? We start with a silly stunt, executed at the start of the Obama Administration, that was meant to imply everything wrong with the U.S./Russia relationship could be fixed simply because Barack Obama had taken office. Press a dumb red button and everything is better. No wonder Obama thought Hillary was qualified to be Secretary of State. If all the job required would be meaningless gestures and empty platitudes, how could she not be the choice?

---

Then we move to the president of the United States letting the president of Russia know in no uncertain terms that any show of resolve he might show was purely an act for the sake of his electoral viability, and that he would reveal his true patsy self as soon as he could get away with it. Finally, this same president deals with one of the most important questions in U.S. foreign policy with a lame zinger line. Put it all together and what can you conclude? It’s pretty clear, isn’t it? Barack Obama has never taken seriously the threat posed by Russia, nor the obligation of the president of the United States to deal with this threat in a serious way. It’s all been a joke, a con, a one-liner. Let’s start with the difference between a geopolitical rival and a military enemy. Romney knew the difference. A geopolitical rival has interests that are contrary to yours, and has made the decision to pursue its own interests at your expense rather than trying to find common ground with you to pursue mutually beneficial interests. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to go to war with them. But it does mean you probably can’t trust them, and it certainly means you shouldn’t conduct the relationship as if you can make everything OK with the right gimmick, or with “flexibility.” A lot of conservatives have pointed out correctly that Vladimir Putin is a much more formidable player on the global stage than Obama will ever be, and this is true. It would be a mistake to go too far and lionize the guy. Putin is a thug. It brings me no joy that Obama is in over his head in dealing with him, even if it does demonstrate the folly of the electorate having twice chosen him as president. I would love for Obama to find some internal fortitude and start dealing with the Russians the way Ronald Reagan did. I would respect him more, and America and its allies would be much better off. But in order for that to happen, Obama would have to start taking seriously what America’s global leadership role is really all about. America needs to stand up to rivals like Russia with real resolve, real power, real strength and real determination to mean what we say. A real leader wouldn’t resort to stupid reset buttons or jokes about the 1980s calling. He would deal with serious issues in a serious way. It’s probably a little late at this point to expect Obama to turn into a serious world leader, but at least we can limit the damage by not letting the reset button presser succeed him.