NEWSLINK Foreign Policy Magazine/Oliver Carroll: “Putin’s Masterstroke of Nonretaliation. In refusing to expel U.S. diplomats in response to President Obama’s sanctions, the Russian leader pulled another fast one on the White House.”

“It was one of the most heavily anticipated diplomatic moves of the year, but when it came down to it, the Obama administration’s decision to expel 35 embassy staff, close two compounds, and impose sanctions on top intelligence chiefs caught Russia off guard.

The move was virtually unprecedented in the post-Cold War world. But that was the point. It was a gesture more at home in the 1970s, or 1980s, when tit-for-tat expulsions were part of the game. For months as the Russian hacking scandal grew, the Obama administration sat on its hands, refusing to disclose links between Russian operatives and WikiLeaks, of which the CIA claimed to have evidence.”