Russian Appeasement was a Left-Wing Monopoly

Townhall.com ^ | February 3, 2022 | Victor Davis Hanson

[Kaslin]

One way of understanding the 2009-2014 Obama Administration policy of "reset" with Vladimir Putin's Russia is to recall two iconic incidents.

The first was the 2009 "reset."

Newly appointed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that she would pursue a "reset" detente with Russia. America would relax the prior Bush Administration's mild ostracism of Russia after its 2008 invasion of Georgia and softly start anew.

The second was President Barack Obama's hot mic moment in March 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. Obama got caught asking Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to reassure Vladimir Putin.

Or as Obama put it: "After my election I have more flexibility... On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it's important for him to give me space... This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility."

Both Obama and Putin apparently got their quid pro quo wishes.

Obama was reelected in 2012. The United States was abandoning missile defense in Eastern Europe. Vladimir Putin gave space and so did not invade Eastern Ukraine and the Crimea - until 2014.

During this 2009-2014 reset, a confused United States invited Russia back into the Middle East after a nearly 40-year hiatus. It refused to provide a beleaguered Ukraine with offensive weapons.

NATO members increasingly ignored their promised military contributions. The United States cut defense spending.

Obama discouraged domestic gas and oil production. The world price of oil soared, enriching Putin's Russia.

[ScottinVA]

Not to mention pulling missile defenses in early 2009 from Poland and the Czech Republic in response to Putin’s demands, along with that abhorrent New START treaty a year later that left the Russians with a 10-1 mid-range ballistic missile advantage vs Europe.

Putin never had a more compliant, submissive pair of lapdogs than Obama and Biden.

[ClearCase_guy]

I increasingly see this as a bipolar world with Europe and China as the two great powers. And I think Europe is largely trying to ally with Russia to form a serious power bloc. Germany wants good relations with Russia and does not care about Ukraine. I think this is where the EU is largely going.

China is a threat to everyone and Europe wants to be in a position to face that threat. Alienating Russia does not help Europe meet its goal.

The US, on the other hand, is supremely unreliable. We are not a good ally. We are not a fearsome enemy. Biden likes Ukraine because he can squeeze money out of Ukraine. The current administration doesn’t really care about Russia and is afraid of China. There is a global struggle going on and we are pretty determined to sit on the sidelines.

I think Putin understands which way the wind is blowing and he will work with Europe to settle affairs to a mutually beneficial conclusion. We will get nothing because we deserve nothing.

[Greetings_Puny_Humans]

I think Putin understands which way the wind is blowing and he will work with Europe to settle affairs

Russia chose the third option decades ago: they are close allies with Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, etc. All military games and preparation, along side China, have all been aimed--openly so--at the United States.

Europe has nothing to offer Russia except their death or surrender. The vast majority of Europe cannot survive a peer to peer conflict. Germany's army has been intentionally destroyed. The French are the exception, as are the Poles, but they are both still years away from being what we need them to be to face Russia and China.

As things stand, Russia and China have an opportunity during the Biden administration to permanently change the balance of power in the world.

[tlozo]

Contemporaneously, Hunter Biden, son of then-Vice President Joe Biden, received a mysterious $3.5 million wire transfer from Elena Baturina. She was supposedly the wealthiest woman in Russia and the widow of Yury Luzhkov, the former mayor of Moscow who had strong ties to the Putin government.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

Seems like VDH is a bit of a neocon and favors policies that would lead to war with Russia. He’s on record as being a “civic nationalist” which is the oxymoronic position held by those just to the right of the RINOs.

[rrrod]

Trump never put up with Putin’s garbage..

[UnwashedPeasant]

Great article! I am surprised there are so few comments.

Karl Marx: “Accuse Your Enemy of What You Are Doing, As You Are Doing it to Create Confusion”