International security/Lost expectations

According to his State of the Union address earlier this week, U.S. President Barack Obama has solved the Russia problem. His brief passage on the subject shows he’s either blind to the dangers of the deteriorating relationship between Moscow and the West or merely too quick to take credit for a victory that is not even on the horizon.

Here’s what Obama had to say about the biggest threat to European stability since the fall of the Berlin wall 25 years ago: “We’re upholding the principle that bigger nations can’t bully the small — by opposing Russian aggression, supporting Ukraine’s democracy and reassuring our NATO allies.

“Last year, as we were doing the hard work of imposing sanctions along with our allies, some suggested that Mr. Putin’s aggression was a masterful display of strategy and strength.

“Well, today, it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters. That’s how America leads — not with bluster, but with persistent, steady resolve.”

Every one of these sentences is, to put it mildly, a stretch.

Obama tries to out-Putin Putin