Ukrainian sovereignty won't be the only casualty of Russian President Vladimir Putin's efforts to assert Russian influence and interest in Crimea. It's still far too early to calibrate how this crisis will play out and what its consequences will be -- but it's a fair bet that whether it ends in a Putin victory, defeat, or draw, it's going to make a difficult situation in the Middle East even more complicated. Whether Putin wins or loses in Ukraine, the odds that Russia could be a reliable partner for the U.S. have decreased dramatically. And this only reinforces the painfully obvious:  When it comes to the core issues facing the U.S. in the Middle East, the U.S. must focus on outcomes, not solutions, and be very sober about what it might do to contribute to them.
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Aaron David Miller: Putin's intervention in Ukraine affects more than Ukraine's sovereignty
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Miller: This crisis and U.S. response will affect how Middle Eastern nations see U.S.
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He says if Putin looks strong and U.S looks ineffectual, Syria, Iran and others take notice
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Miller: Obama administration is risk-averse, and faces long odds vs. Putin on Ukraine
Russia has never been as allergic as @placeholder to the possibility that Iran will become a nuclear threshold weapons state.
@placeholder will cut its own deal with America on the nuclear issue if it gets the right terms, regardless of what Putin thinks.
Partly this comes from the U.S. setting expectations too high; misreading the way the world actually is; underestimating how determined smaller powers can be; and it comes from the reality that @placeholder doesn't control the world now and never did.