Forget the warm phone calls between the two leaders; never mind Obama’s disarmament deals with Moscow. Russia’s foreign policy seems to be the same as during the Cold War: Watch what America’s doing, and do the exact opposite.

So, as Obama keeps courting Putin (because America, again, supposedly has no other cards to play), the Syrian carnage continues unchecked and Iran keeps marching toward The Bomb.

And beyond Russia’s sphere of influence Egypt’s chaos is about to blow up, China bullies its neighbors, North Korea imports arms from Cuba and — well, you get the picture.

In lieu of finding (or making) good options on any of these crises, Obama gives a resounding “this is unacceptable” speech, thenturns the matter over to NATO or the United Nations.

There are always excuses: America is broke; voters no longer want us to be the world’s cop. And even if we did want it, what can we do?