So Russia invades Ukraine and the Middle East burns, with our major gain in the region--Iraq--under threat from Iran and unrest spilling over from Syria.
Meanwhile, in the Pacific:
During Obama's four-nation tour of Asia that begins on April 23, his toughest challenge will be to reassure skeptical leaders that the United States intends to be more than just a casual observer and instead is genuinely committed to countering an increasingly assertive China in the region. ...
U.S. officials say the Obama administration's long-promised "rebalancing" of America's economic, diplomatic and security policy toward Asia is on track, largely unaffected by the attention demanded by the crisis in Ukraine or persistent troubles in the Middle East.
The Asia "pivot" - as the White House initially dubbed it - represented a strategy to refocus on the region's dynamic economies as the United States disentangled itself from costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I love that. Worries about our resolve to win in Europe and the Middle East really should have no effect on Asian judgments about our commitment to winning in Asia. Because... Pivot. And stuff.
The administration considers the pivot on track not because moving assets and programs to the Pacific is increasing allied confidence in us and deterring potential foes. No, the pivot is on track because moving assets is on track--forgetting the difference between means and ends. Measuring the inputs is all that matters in judging the pivot.
And by that logic, events in Europe and the Middle East have no effect on judging our efforts in those regions we pivoted away from. We're drawing down. So who cares what happens? Success!
Perhaps at the end of 8 years of smart diplomacy, we'll receive total diplomatic consciousness.
So we got that going for us. Which is nice.
