I'm not saying it would have worked, but it was worth a serious try. Probably too late now. Putin has a different mind-set than did Yeltsin.
Regardless, Putin is not a threat to civilization. The islamists are. Putin is an ally in that fight.
Yes, the Clintons wanted to rub the Russians noses in it with stupidity like Kosovo.
Is it necessarily bad that Russia wants to be a player on the world stage? It seems that the State Department wants Russia to be a good little slave nation. Is it any wonder they resent the US.