There is nothing 'past tense' about the effectiven
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'Bubbling' 7 year Obama foreign policy? As contrasted with the cauldron of steaming sh*t Dubya spilled all over us, lives lost and $trillion wasted?
Remember when foreign policy savant Bush divined Putin's soul, in his eyes, and then Putin invaded Georgia? I do.
Remember how GWB deterred Iran from enriching uranium? Me neither.
I didn't say that economic difficulties by themselves were a deterrent. I suggested that together with an adversary's military deterrent a faltering economy is a constraint.
Stop kidding yourself that Russia and China don't have 'decision trees' that ask "if we do this, what does the US do? What do we then do? What do you mean we can't do THAT?"
Yeah, assessments of costs of all kinds shorten the 'tree''.