News 1: Barack Obama: no cold war over Crimea US president insists military solution not an
option, saying pressure and diplomacy are the way forward in Crimea dispute (26 March 2014)
Obama emphasizes the need for western Europe to diversify “energy sources and suppliers,”
which included fracking within mainland Europe, accessing US oil reserves, and exploring
alternate energy sources (turbines, dams, ect.). In doing so, Europe would no longer hold a
dependency to Russian oil exports, mitigating the possibility of being blackmailed into
supporting ulterior foreign policy agendas. Obama addresses the Crimean crisis with “pressure
and diplomacy,” assuming that isolating Russia from the world stage will eventually capitulate
them into meeting European demands.
News 2: Bidenʼs Stand on Ukraine Is a Wider Test of U.S. Credibility Abroad President Barack
Obama also warned of severe consequences if Russia took action against its neighbor. Vladimir
Putin annexed Crimea anyway. (Dec. 16, 2021)
Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in combination with recent economic capitulations in the
Nordic 2 pipeline has deteriorated U.S credibility abroad. If Russia chooses to invade Ukraine,
and American response is either weak or nonexistent, autocrats throughout the world will be
emboldened to conduct violations of international order. Moreover, greater effort should be
placed in supporting Ukraine now, with financial and military assistance to deter Russian
advance. Appeasement did not work with Allied powers in 1930s, did not work with Obama in
2014, and certainly would not work in 2022.
News 3: Was Obama Too Soft on Russia? President Trump is not the �rst to make this claim.
(February 2017)
Ukraine is a core Russian interest but not an American one, so Russia will always be able to
maintain escalatory dominance there.”
Obama’s decision to challenge Russian expansion into the Crimea with solely economic
sanctions is, holistically, a rational response. Ukraine is not a member of NATO and is not a
primary US interest, and therefore would not justify drastic military escalation. Even the
republicans who so harshly criticized Obama’s lack of response did not note supplying Ukraine
with arms and munitions as a policy point in the 2016 presidential race.