memeorandum: Putin's Nationalist Strategy (Masha Lipman/News Desk)

1:40 PM ET, March 3, 2014

Top Items:

President Obama's foreign policy is based on fantasy — FOR FIVE YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. It was a world in which “the tide of war is receding” and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces.

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Pressure Rising as Obama Works to Rein In Russia — WASHINGTON — As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, President Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully.

CNN:

Tensions rise in Crimea amid report of Russian ultimatum — (CNN) — Russia has issued an ultimatum to Ukrainian forces in Crimea to clear out by 5 a.m. Tuesday or face a “military storm,” according to Russian state-run news agency Interfax, which cited a Ukrainian Defense Ministry source.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, nato.int, US Department of State and Weekly Standard

David Weigel / Slate:

Democratic Senator: Crimea Crisis is Happening Because America Looked Weak in Syria — Every year, a large sector of the Washington Convention Center is occupied and bedazzled for the AIPAC Policy Conference. It's an overwhelming event, with optics and booming Hollywood soundtracks …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Washington Free Beacon

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Here's What Is Going To Happen With Ukraine

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BillMoyers.com and Prairie Weather

Russell Berman / The Hill:
US moves to isolate Russia from ‘community of civilized nations’

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, kyivpost.com, The Week, The Dish and The Democratic Daily

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Putin's error in Ukraine is the kind that leads to catastrophe

Discussion: Guardian, Power Line, New York Times, Daily Kos, The Week, VodkaPundit, Business Insider, New Yorker, Washington Free Beacon, Slate and kyivpost.com

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
What to do about Putin's invasion of Ukraine?

Discussion: Hot Air

Anatol Lieven / Zocalo Public Square:
Why Obama Shouldn't Fall for Putin's Ukrainian Folly

Discussion: The Belgravia Dispatch, Guardian and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:
Russia's Aggression

Discussion: USA Today, Fox News, The Huffington Post and kyivpost.com

Ben Judah / Politico:
Why Russia No Longer Fears the West

Discussion: Financial Times, Bloomberg View, The Fix and New York Times

Masha Lipman / News Desk:
Putin's Nationalist Strategy

Discussion: Firedoglake, Guardian and Associated Press

Bloomberg:
Russia Gas Threat Shows Putin Using Pipelines to Press Ukraine

Discussion: Business Insider, kyivpost.com and Politico

Jeffrey Goldberg / Bloomberg View:

Obama to Israel — Time Is Running Out — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House tomorrow, President Barack Obama will tell him that his country could face a bleak future — one of international isolation and demographic disaster — if he refuses to endorse …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Walter Russell Mead, The Times of Israel, Commentary Magazine, Right Turn, Business Insider, BizPac Review, The PJ Tatler, Israel Matzav, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, Israpundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Power Line

Aryeh Tepper / Weekly Standard:
Does Abbas Recognize Israel as a Jewish State?

Discussion: Booman Tribune and The Times of Israel

Adiv Sterman / The Times of Israel:
Obama: US won't be able to defend Israel if peace talks fail

Discussion: Right Turn, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Gateway Pundit

Larry Hannan / Florida Times Union:

Marissa Alexander's sentence could triple in ‘warning-shot’ case — A Jacksonville woman whose case generated outrage when she was sentenced to 20 years in prison may end up behind bars for 60 years for the same crime. — The Office of State Attorney Angela Corey will seek to put Marissa Alexander …

Discussion: The Raw Story, PoliticusUSA, Gone Viral Blog, theGrio, Shakesville, ABC News, Dispatches from the Underclass and Black Youth Project

Cincinnati.com:

Boehner to Enquirer: Putin a ‘thug’ — The time has come to join with Europe to impose sanctions against Russia, House Speaker John Boehner said in an exclusive meeting at The Enquirer Monday. — But Boehner did not say what sanctions should be taken in the wake of Russia's threatening military action in Ukraine.

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics, The Plum Line, Post Politics, The Daily Caller, Taegan Goddard's … and Roll Call

Jay Newton-Small / TIME:

TIME Newsmaker Interview with John McCain: On Ukraine, Syria, Barack Obama, Chris Christie — Plus: His take on working with Obama on foreign policy, Chris Christie's survival and why climate change isn't dead — Tapping a black sharpy on his right hand, John McCain sat in his Senate offices …

Discussion: OnPolitics, Mediaite, Post Politics and Taegan Goddard's …

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:
Waiting for Jeb — The 2016 presidential election is Jeb Bush's now-or-never-moment.

Discussion: The Reaction

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

Democrats Try Wooing Ones Who Got Away: White Men — ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Frank Houston knows something about the longtime estrangement of white men from the Democratic Party. His family roots are in nearby Macomb County, the symbolic home of working-class Reagan Democrats who …

Discussion: Democratic Strategist, The Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Billionaire Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg ‘is planning to run for Senate seat in 2016’ — Sandberg, one of the business world's biggest champions of correcting gender inequality in the workplace, is eying a rebellion against Democratic Californian Senator Barbara Boxer

Discussion: Business Insider and The Raw Story

Catherine Shoard / Guardian:

Oscars 2014: 10 things we learned — The 86th Academy Awards are over. Here's our top takeaways from the night, from Meryl's moves to Matthew's megalomania — It turns out Hollywood knows about selfies … Remember that president guy? Barack somethingorother?

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, TechCrunch, Gawker, Bangor Daily News, Politico and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Tara Palmeri / New York Post:

UAE airline leaves Israel off its flight map — An airline that gets US taxpayer dollars for security has wiped Israel from its flight map. — The US Department of Homeland Security spends $425,000 annually on a preclearance customs facility for Etihad Airways, a partner of American Airlines, at Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and The PJ Tatler

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

For lawmakers, an O-Care escape option — This year, members of Congress and thousands of their staffers are finally signing up for health insurance provided by an ObamaCare exchange, fulfilling their commitment to live under the same system that millions of other Americans will use.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Jammie Wearing Fools