They say a photo is worth a thousand words. Perhaps presidents
Obama and Putin never heard of that expression. It is rare to the
point of being unknown when the last time was that two world
leaders showed such obvious mutual dislike of each other. Even the
post-White House meeting facial expressions of Netanyahu and Obama
did not reach that level. It’s hard to imagine a discussion over
why Russia should allow heavy sanctions to be placed on the Assad
regime in Syria or similar Russian cooperation over Iranian nuclear
weapon development becoming so vitriolic as to create the intensity
of distaste and disregard that showed in the faces of Barack Obama
and Vladimir Putin after their meeting at the G-20 in Mexico.
Even more odd is why none of the media outlets tried to explore
what was behind the childish display of pique. Aren’t clever major
country potentates supposed to be able to hide their personal
feelings and mask their political animosities? Where was that
usually well-placed bit of information explaining Obama’s ultimate
rectitude that so often leaks its way out of the White House? What
happened also to the typically indiscreet, but clearly purposeful,
tidbit of disclosure that makes covering the Kremlin such a
challenge and mystery at the same time?
Instead the only thing left is to wonder if the two men just
really don’t like each other; that they in fact can’t even stand
being seated next to each other. To allow a personal reaction to
dominate intergovernmental relations is not merely inexcusable, it
is irresponsibly dangerous. Of course, equally inexplicable is the
American president’s obsequious bowing to the Saudi King
Abdullah.
Vladimir Putin is not unsophisticated and certainly not
inexperienced. He is a very calculating intelligence professional
and since the 1990s an equally calculating politician. The problem
that President Obama has with his counterpart is that Putin just
does not respect him. From Putin’s standpoint Obama is quite
deficient in his knowledge and experience in world politics and
thus inept as a prospective partner in evolving issues such as Iran
and Syria.
Apparently this lack of understanding by President Obama has
arisen before in the private conversations between the U.S. and
Russian leaders. Putin was treated to the Obama pedantry much the
same way the American president has insultingly lectured other
world figures as he did P.M. Netanyahu of Israel. The New York
Times
reported Pres. Obama’s remark about a “Polish death camp…” so
infuriated Poland’s P.M. Donald Tusk that he referred to Obama as
guilty of “ignorance, lack of knowledge, bad intentions.” President
Obama’s behavior on numerous occasions gives a lie to his vaunted
intellectual competence in the field of diplomacy. Apparently Putin
— hardly known as a mild-mannered person — chose to react at
their meeting in Los Cabos.
The practical, though tangential impact of this highly
personalized conflict between the American and Russian presidents
is to deny foreign policy accolades to Hillary Clinton in her role
as chief foreign affairs negotiator. Secretary Clinton has been
dealing constructively with Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei
Lavrov. A mutual respect is reportedly to have developed between
these two in spite of — or perhaps because of - Clinton’s
comparative lack of a professional foreign affairs background quite
exploitable by the vastly more experienced Lavrov.
It would appear that President Obama lost sight of the fact that
the United States is desirous of Russia’s cooperation rather than
the other way around. It has been apparent for some time that
Moscow intends to keep its foot in the doorway of Middle Eastern
politics and stalwartly supporting Iran and Syria is how it intends
to accomplish this. Putin already has shown he doesn’t alter
positions on anything unless his interests are enhanced. This fact
should have been understood by Barack Obama. If he was as clever
and expert in all aspects of negotiation as he obviously thinks he
is, the meeting in Mexico with Putin would have gone quite
differently. Obama’s autocratic instincts are as deep as Putin’s,
even if his rhetoric pretends differently.
Unlike Obama, Putin is a graduate of the Cold War and the days
of Russian ascendancy. A renowned historian of that period, Charles
Gati, wrote revealingly regarding Russian foreign policy that it
was ” a mixture of assertiveness and accommodation.” That
accommodation comes, however, only when the alternative is feared.
It was true during the days of the Soviet Union and it remains true
today. The current Russian president has made quite clear his
desire to return his country to the preeminence it once held when
it was recognized as one of the world’s two superpowers. Putin will
never deal with Obama on an equal basis and certainly has no
intention of granting him acceptance personally.
What President Obama does not appear to grasp is that his
Russian adversary — and Putin is that — intends to treat him as
strictly a “short timer” no matter the November election results.
If President Obama is to get anywhere with Russia, it will have to
be with the assistance of “Dimi” Medvedev with whom he is far more
congenial. This, too, is part of the Russian ploy. Putin recognizes
that the U.S. is the greatest military power in the world, but he
also knows Obama will never use that power to get what he wants in
the Middle East — or anywhere else. Putin is a well-practiced
tough guy who is careful in his assessment of his opponent.
Russia’s #2 is deemed adequate to deal with America’s #1, as long
as it remains Obama.
The world in which Barack Obama lives is dominated by himself;
everything else is simply a backdrop. Putin has been well briefed
on this by his intelligence profilers. It hasn’t taken
extraordinary talent to analyze the American president’s
narcissism, but the Russians surely know how to exploit it. Too bad
that Barack Obama is incapable of doing the same thing the other
way around.
