Once upon a time Henry Kissinger knew how to exploit Sino-Russian tensions to pull one of the Cold War’s biggest coups. Nixon went to China, stealing away one of Russia’s best potential allies, and the rest is history.

But that was when we’d flex some muscle around the globe, too, resisting Communism everywhere until it collapsed under its own weight. Now Putin swallows parts of Europe and props up his nasty Mideast allies and China forever pushes the envelope in its aggression against Asian neighbors.

While Obama fights with Democrats on the Hill over a trade deal with our Pacific allies, Putin makes a reality of his own “pivot” to Asia.

Our “pivot” remains imaginary. While we lose friends in the Mideast and Asia, “isolated” Putin gains allies everywhere.