Why has U.S. policy toward Russia seemed so inconsistent for over 30 years? Integration, reset, sanctions, escalation, hesitation, negotiation… Bush, Clinton, Obama, Trump, Biden all look different on the surface. But beneath it, there is a hard constraint shaping every decision: Washington does not want Russia to win.
But it also cannot afford for Russia to collapse. Once you factor in nuclear risk, European security, and China’s rise, the pattern starts to make sense.
