There’s nothing Obama can do ....Europe has this in their court...Putin has oodles of monies spread throughout banks etc. over the entire EU....they will simply find a way for Putin to come out of this looking good.
Obama has squat influence there....
Obama was neutered long ago but Libya, Egypt, and then Syria completed the job. He’s nothing but a irritating joke on the world stage at this point.
“Obama has squat influence there....”
Just as George Bush had zero influence when Putin rolled into Georgia and the US could do nothing when the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia in the 1960’s.
The European situation today is the product of US foreign policy in the post war era. Instead of retreating back to the homeland after WWII, as the US did after WW1, American politicians chose to place the burden of defending Europe from the Soviet Union on the backs of the US taxpayer and put American soldiers in position to bleed if the Soviet tanks ever came across the border. Germany, the UK, France and other European countries were free to rebuild their economies, and establish huge social programs for their populations, thanks to the US taxpayer bearing the cost of their defense for 50 years. Europe became rich and complacent. By the 1960’s the US could no longer afford to bear the cost of its imperial military, as well as support increased domestic spending, so it began to borrow heavily to fund its global military footprint.
What do we have to show for our efforts? The Soviet Union is resurgent and China is emerging as a rival power. Our economy is a mess and the accumulated debt load cannot be paid off. Essentially the company is bankrupt and waiting for the day the currency loses reserve status and the spending binge will have to end. Europe will continue to avoid spending on defense and will accommodate Russia in order to keep the natural gas pipelines open.
Our founding fathers warned us against involvement in foreign affairs and the perils of maintaining a large standing army. We ignored that advice, beginning in the 20th Century so our politicians could play on the global stage. We are now reaping the consequences.
Large military forces do not always equate to power.