All throughout the Cold War, the US and the USSR treated international affairs as a zero-sum game. With the dissolution of the USSR, the Russians (and to some degree, the US) looked for win-win solutions. Typically one side would do or say something, and the other side would stand back and watch.

It’s pretty obvious from their backing of the Assad regime that the Russians have moved back towards the old ways.

That’s really a shame. Diplomacy should not be a zero-sum game.