When Russia stonewalled UN sanctions against Iran, Bush responded with the highly provocative measure of putting ABMs in Poland. The idea was smart: if Iran gets nuclear weapons, then the US will need a small ABM somewhere in Europe to protect itself. Incidentally, that ABM changes the status quo of US-Russian mutual deterrence. If Russia wants to restore the status quo, it has to eliminate the need for the ABM—and cooperate with America on Iranian sanctions.
As with other small threats, this one did not work out, as the Russians escalated the conflict with strategic bomber patrols and ABMs on the Baltic border.
In correspondence with Putin, Obama explicitly offered to halt the Polish ABM plans in return for Russian cooperation against Iran.
What Obama does not understand is that international relations lack the goodwill characteristic of Harvard classroom debates. Iran and the Russians exploit his softness rather than reciprocate it.
