The reason why Putin finds it so easy to wrestle world dominance from the US is that he has found the main weakness of the American foreign policy. The US policy is notoriously based on short-term needs.
Arm the Taliban in Afghanistan then spend a decade fighting it. Support the Arab Spring, then start sending drones when things don’t go as you expected. Push Cuba towards the USSR, then deal with a variety of suddenly Socialist countries in South America. Coddle Putin, welcome him to the G8, then expel him, or not, or maybe yes. Sign the Budapest treaties with Ukraine, then forget all about them 20 years later.
The electoral cycle is relentless, and this is how a democracy always falls behind a totalitarian regime. A totalitarian leader like Putin doesn’t have to fear reelection. He can choose a plan of action and consistently, coherently and relentlessly plod along towards his goal.
Of course, I’m not writing this to suggest that totalitarianism is better than democracy. Totalitarianism is wrong on every level. But what we miss in order to combat it effectively is the single-minded and shared conviction that, despite the inevitable and necessary differences in our views, we share the same basic values and are ready to fight for them.
Unless we do that and do that soon, we will have a minimal presence on the world arena and will see the planet engulfed by people whose values are vastly inferior to ours. Look, I know this is an unpopular thing to say, but I have lived in the FSU and in North America and I’m deeply convinced that the way North Americans relate to each other and to the world is vastly superior to anything one can find in the post-Soviet space.
We are not perfect in the US and Canada, far from it. But we have things that are definitely worth defending and exporting overseas. And the Russian Empire that is being reborn in front of our very eyes doesn’t.
Clarissa's Blog 
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