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I should note also that Obama isn't that great on history either. Speaking of Gorbachev, he was in the news trying to clue everyone in about what Putin's Big Idea in Ukraine is. It's exactly what everyone who has read any amount of Russian military history already knows: that Russia will never tolerate not having a buffer zone between Moscow and Europe. NATO on Russia's borders is unacceptable to Russia. Putin isn't "crazy", as the media portray him; he's simply following the script that all Russian leaders since Peter the Great have followed. It's tragic that we don't seem to know that. I suppose it's simpler and serves our interests more to claim that a foreign leader is crazy and erratic than to address the realpolitik in the room.