Who's the Patsy?

Warren Buffet famously said - If you've been in the poker game for 30 minutes and you don't know who the patsy is, you're the patsy. 

With a gross domestic product the size of Italy's Russia is weaker than the U.S., China or the European Union.  Therefore to strengthen his hand  Vladimir Putin must therefore create divisions among his adversaries.  Weaken the economic ties among European nations, weaken their military ties (NATO) and advance governments accommodating of the Russian point of view.  Maybe even make a grab for some of the former western satellite nations of the defunct Soviet Union.

As usual - conservative columnist David Frum - nails it with this piece in the Atlantic.  Foreign-Policy Poker With Donald Trump.