Barack Obama isn’t just a gifted politician; he’s also an accomplished actor who knows how to perform on several stages almost simultaneously. On Tuesday evening, he appeared on the popular Jay Leno TV talk show and casually chatted about America’s relationship with Russia. Putin, he commented with a paternalistic tone, sometimes reverts to a Cold War mindset. He reminded Putin that the Cold War was history and that it was necessary for them to look together into the future.
At this point in time, Obama may have decided to try a gambit from the repertoire of Cold War openings: cancellation of a one-on-one discussion with Putin the evening prior to the opening of the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg. No U.S. president in the postwar era had ever dared make such a move.
Like a Schoolyard Bully
The messages were aimed at two separate audiences. The appearance on the Leno show was meant to tell Russia that Obama wasn’t happy about the direction in which U.S.-Russian relations were heading but that it was still possible to change course. Cancellation of the dialog with Putin the very next day was also aimed at Moscow, but with the full knowledge that the snub wouldn’t particularly impress Putin. The real audience for that move was that portion of the American public which could barely stand the idea of Moscow openly providing safe haven for the traitor Edward Snowden.
The approval was quick in coming. Influential Democratic Senator Charles Schumer declared that Putin was behaving like a schoolyard bully undeserving of a one-on-one meeting with the president of the United States. The choice of words clearly showed how desperately Democrats had been waiting for Obama to finally begin pounding the table.
The Snowden case was probably just the first in a long series of disappointments. On the other hand, would Americans have reacted any differently had a Russian intelligence agent sought political asylum in the United States? Hardly. This sort of behavior is the norm for countries in competition with one another. What is far more surprising is the lack of confidence on America’s part shown in this instance. It’s likely the problem would have ended and Snowden would have long since been returned to the United States had he been offered some sort of deal: a reasonable deal with appropriate and transparent consequences in return for his cooperation instead of charging him with espionage and hundreds of years in prison similar to what Snowden’s spiritual brother Bradley Manning got.
Obama’s Frustration Is Great
An icy wind is currently blowing between Washington and Moscow, but it’s probably not the harbinger of a new ice age. That’s shown by the announced meeting between ministers this coming Friday. Nevertheless, Obama is obviously frustrated by the fact that Putin has hindered more than helped to fulfill Obama’s promise of a new era of Russian-American relations made four years ago. Putin showed no reaction to Obama’s arms reduction suggestion made in Berlin this June. That gives the impression of personal contempt. Possibly, Obama is now beginning to doubt his own theory that cooperation with Putin’s Russia is the key to solving many pressing international problems.
Thus, Obama finds himself in the uncomfortable position of having to depend in large part on the man in the Kremlin as the key to successful U.S. foreign policy — and Putin has no interest in making life easier for his Washington colleague.
When Obama struts around the globe showing off his American will-to-power, Putin has to make a choice. Either he joins the league of imperial Washington’s vassal states that deny him nothing, or he behaves as if he’s the legitimate leader of a sovereign state.
Whatever you think of Putin, he played the Snowden asylum case by the book. He waited for the Manning verdict, which gave plenty of credence to Snowden’s fear of an unfair trial and a long prison sentence before he granted Snowden’s request.