President-elect Donald Trump castigated President Obama during the campaign for weakness in dealing with Iran and insufficient urgency in addressing the Islamic State. His constant refrain was: “We don’t win anymore!” He now seems to be on a tear against China, threatening a 35 percent tariff (to which House Republicans object). When it comes to Russia, however, he seems to be a pushover for Vladimir Putin. Trump could possibly be the weakest president yet when it comes to confronting the revanchist regime in Moscow.
Robert Kagan, who backed Hillary Clinton, recently testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He reminded the lawmakers:
[Russia] has invaded two neighboring states—Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014—and in both cases has hived off significant portions of those two nations’ sovereign territory. It has also projected military force into Syria, lending its military support to the Syrian regime’s efforts to crush all opposition, including by the aerial bombing and massacre of civilian populations. Russia has also been aggressive in other ways. It has wielded its control of European energy resources as a weapon. It has used cyberwarfare against neighboring states. It has engaged in extensive information warfare on a global scale. And it has interfered directly in Western electoral processes, both to try to influence their outcomes and more generally to discredit the democratic system. This past year, Russia for the first time employed this powerful weapon against the United States, heavily interfering in the American electoral process with as yet unknown consequences. …
