Discussion»Questions»Politics» Some AMers allege President Obama has been "weak" in the face of bellicosity by Russian leader Vladamir Putin. What should he have done?
He should have asked for a meeting and brought his oldest daughter along. He should have invited Putin to hack Trump's emails He should have had somethng to OFFER Putin. You know, like a say in how both countries should be run. He should have insured Putin that anything Putin wants done, he will offer up.
You know, he should have realized that votes are a joke and skills and diplomacy now mean wheeling and dealing at any cost as long as you can share top billing.
I think it's worth examining why Ukraine experienced what it did. If one views it from a Russian perspective, it is a rational, albeit underhand method of preserving it's own security against the onward march of all things EU (sponsored in no small part, ideologically and functionally, by the US).
Russia cannot abandon any of it's deep sea ports and maintain it's geopolitical position. Hence it took the actions it did in Crimea. The skill in diplomacy is to get what you want while not disturbing (overmuch) the political sensibilities of the competition. With respect to Russia, this is something both the US and EU nations have singularly failed to do over the last 20 years or so. The prevailing attitude has been hawkish and almost uniformly aggressive (though not militarily, thankfully) and it was only a question of time before Russia reacted.
As to what Obama could have done, that's a tricky question. Given the circumstances and the situation, I suspect the answer is, 'little'. Certainly the idea of the US being even more belligerent would not have been a winning one, given the importance of the area to Russia and it's somewhat justified sense of being economically cornered.
So the idea of Obama being 'weak' is one I would say comes with a large helping of not-understanding.
I does seem rather obvious options with respect to being "firm" with Russia are limited. They have the world's second-largest nuclear arsenal and one of the world's largest armies. Any sort of armed confrontation risks rapid escalation and a possible nuclear exchange.
It's easy for a politician (and especially an opposition one) to be 'firm' in cases like this - get a speechwriter to write something appropriate, get it vetted and checked for suitability (unless your name is 'Donald') and broadcast to take advantage of media attention.
The question I think should be asked by all capable nations (and one seemingly ignored in many western countries for about the last 25 years) is not whether something can be done but whether it should be done. That this hasn't been asked, or has produced responses based on ignorance and greed, is a symptom of the ideology much of the west has been pursuing for that time.
I'm afraid that how politics is sold to the public is partly to blame for that. One rarely sees an official apologise, admit an error, concede a point or congratulate an opponent on anything until all hope is lost. Until the political groups adopt a more honest approach than, 'We Know All The Answers And They Know Shit', this kind of unrealistic expectation will continue.
And let's not forget that unrealistic expectations can work for you in politics, especially if you invent the expectation in the first place and then point fingers at opponents for not exceeding them. It's a very useful tool if you just want something cheap and easy to throw at an opponent - you only need mention it once or twice to have it picked up by mainstream media and from there you have a multitude of people happy to do some cheap point scoring for you. It's politics from a lounge chair, feet up and drink in hand.
So we have the familiar issue of honesty not being in the interests of politicians (or enough of them at least), and a discredited and widely despised system does yet another lap while a few people get a lot richer. It will stop only when enough people realise just how badly they're being manipulated and how badly they fell for it.
WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH 