To the Editor:
Re “Russia Surprises U.S. With Accord on Battling ISIS” (front page, Sept. 28):
First, Russia deploys warplanes and tanks to Syria to prop up its closest ally in the Middle East, President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. Now, Russia is coordinating a new coalition with Syria, Iraq and Iran to fight the Islamic State, or ISIS, in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.
But why should any of this come as a surprise? Russia is simply taking advantage of a leadership vacuum in the Middle East, provided by President Obama’s strategy of reducing and limiting American power in the region. Six years ago, this strategy seemed like a prudent response to the Bush administration’s destructive overreach. Today, with ISIS on the march, a refugee calamity extending into Europe, and America’s global and regional adversaries emboldened, it seems dangerously out of touch.
It is high time for the Obama administration to acknowledge that its minimalist approach to the Middle East has failed, and to begin devising new American-led efforts to address the chaos that has engulfed the region on its watch.
STUART GOTTLIEB
New York
The writer teaches American foreign policy and international security at Columbia University.
