Paul Goble of Window on Eurasia writes about the gap between rhetoric and reality in terms of Washington’s support for the territorial integrity of former Soviet states:

Then, that disillusionment is already spreading to other countries in the region who can see that the gap between the West’s rhetoric and the reality means they have to back down even further in the face of Russian pressure than would otherwise be the case, thus further limiting the opportunities of these nations for a better future. And finally – and this is a danger that cannot be ruled out – such a disorderly recession of Western and especially American power and influence in the region means that the Russians, never all that sophisticated in gauging just where the lines are, may finally cross a red line and provoke an explosion in East-West relations that could rapidly get out of hand.