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International politics is very much about gamesmanship. The Obama Administration feels the missile defense system as envisioned by the Bush Administration to be unworkable and destabilizing to relations with Russia. The Obama Administration envisions a different type of strategy that is not as threatening to Russia (some may even call this appeasement). The problem lies not in how the Obama administration choses to defend Europe but how the changes is viewed by the rest of the players in the dicey relationship between Europe and Russia. Instead of being seen for putting forward their own vision, the Obama administration will be seen as having blinked. If you blink you can be set off balance, if you can be set off balance others can gain the advantage. The Clinton Administration pushed Partners For Peace initiative which encouraged former Warsaw Pact nations to adopt democracy and the European Union. Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic did so. Romania, Serbia, several of the former republics of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia have tried to follow suite. These emerging democracies may see the change in strategy by the Obama administration as an abandonment of their goals and exposure to an ever more aggressive Russia.
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