Mitt Romney was pilloried mercilessly during the 2012 presidential campaign for pointing out that Russia was America’s number one geopolitical foe. President Obama went so far as to ridicule him in one presidential debate, declaring, “The 1980s are calling, they want their foreign policy back.”

But no one is laughing now. Russian President Vladimir Putin has since kidnapped officials from neighboring countries, invaded Ukraine, annexed Crimea, and mobilized his military in large wargames operations designed to cause panic in the west. He has also interfered in U.S. efforts to bring calm to other regions, as when he cleverly helped rescue Syrian dictator Bashar Assad from any consequences for the war crime of using chemical weapons against civilians.