Obama Acquiesces to McCain's Foreign Policy

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 8, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                      

             Canceling his “summit” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Barack Obama caved into GOP outrage of Russia’s decision to grant asylum to 30-year-old National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.  When the G20 starts in St. Petersburg Sept. 5, Obama won’t be making a separate stop in Moscow to meet with Putin.  Losing sight of the bigger picture, Obama chose to sour already bitter relations with the Kremlin, turning the clock back on U.S.-Russian relations.  Instead of going to Moscow to build some rapport, Obama chose to punish Putin for not turning over the slippery U.S. fugitive.  Highlighting problems with U.S.-Russian relations, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney justified the cancellation, citing more work on common issues was needed before summitry.  While that seems logical, canceling the summit looks petty and vindictive.

             Back in 2009, Obama took a different tact, meeting with Putin at his country estate outside Moscow.  “We may not end up agreeing on everything, but I think that we can have a tone of mutual respect and consultation that will serve both the American and the Russian people well,” Obama told Putin.  Instead letting the Snowden affair get in the way of U.S.-Russian relations, Barack should look at the big picture before allowing Capitol Hill Republicans to set foreign policy.  When he was a candidate back in 2008, McCain and the GOP had conniptions over Barack suggesting he have direct talks with Iran.  Rebuking Putin does nothing to advance U.S. foreign policy, certainly not U.S. national security.  U.S. intelligence and law enforcement expected close cooperation with Russia after the Boston Marathon bombings.  When Putin turned a cold shoulder on Obama over Snowden, it wasn’t unprovoked.

             Obama was practically begged by Russian authorities to stay out the civil war in Syria.  While the president tried to stay clear, he was beaten down by McCain and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to intervene militarily.  When Barack signaled June 14 he would follow McCain’s plan of arming Syrian rebels, Putin and the Kremlin groaned.  Saying he was “very disappointed” over Snowden’s asylum, Obama ignored his own actions on Syria that drove U.S.-Russian relations to recent lows.   Whatever eventually happens in Syria—and it looks like Bashar al Assad is on his way out—Obama should have consulted more with Putin before agreeing to supply arms to rebels. If the U.S. wants better relations with Russia, it’s a two-way street, something that bothers conservatives on Capitol Hill.  With Obama’s new closeness with McCain, he’s lost his own foreign policy.

             Speaking on NBC’s “Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, Obama expressed frustration with U.S.-Russian relations.  “What I say to President Putin is, that’s the past . . . and we’ve got to think about the future,” urging Russian to stop harking back to the Cold War.  Boycotting a scheduled summit doesn’t accomplish an improvement in bilateral relations, only throws cold water on an already icy relationship.  Former President George W. Bush thought he had close ties with Putin until the Russian Army invaded Georgia Aug. 8, 2008, protesting U.S.-backed Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvilli’s Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipeline, bypassing the Russian oil monopoly to Europe.  Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the U.S. competed with Russia on practically everything, especially for global dominance.  Whether it’s global oil or arms’ sales, the U.S. continues to compete with Moscow.

             Obama can’t expect Russia to come to the U.S. rescue unless he takes a more conciliatory approach.  Bailing out of a summit slaps Putin and turns back the clock on U.S.-Russian relations.  “Sometimes, at times of crisis, when diplomats fail to reach a compromise, personal relationships can be important, as a last resort . . . There is a lack of personal chemistry between Obama and Putin,” said Maria Lipman, a Russian analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center think tank.  Whether Obama has close relationships with any foreign leader is anyone’s guess.  He seems to reluctantly engage on the world stage, preferring his domestic agenda.  Given the precarious state of global relations since Sept. 11, Obama should be building alliances, no matter how thin, to combat economic challenges and ongoing terror threats.  Few world leaders more than Putin know how to manage terrorist threats.

             Canceling the Moscow summit with Putin before the G20 in St. Petersburg doesn’t help U.S.-Russian relations, or, for that matter, push Russia into making more concessions on a host of bilateral issues.  Letting Snowden torpedo U.S.-Russian relations doesn’t dignify the White House or State Department’s role of aiding U.S. national security and business development.  Allowing McCain and conservatives on Capitol Hill to dictate U.S. foreign policy shows a White House adrift on important international matters.  Whatever Putin decided on Snowden, it’s not his fault that a U.S. citizen embarrassed the White House divulging spy secrets on the world stage.  If the CIA couldn’t pluck Snowden from Hawaii or Hong Kong, it’s not Putin’s fault.  Canceling summits, no matter how useless, causes more unwanted controversy, doing little to advance U.S. foreign relations.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.