Are Russia's actions in the Crimea really the crime of the century, Nicholas Khoo asks.
An air of unreality pervades the Obama Administration's response to Russian policy in Ukraine, and Crimea more specifically.
This unreality is best captured by United States Secretary of State John Kerry's interview on the programme Face the Nation on CBS on March 2.
During the interview, Mr Kerry stated: ''You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped-up pretext.''
Apparently, Russia did not get the memo.
Let's be clear, most states, most of the time, do not invade other states.
But whether we like it or not, great powers do invade other states, conduct espionage, exercise overt and covert pressure, and do all kinds of undiplomatic acts.
For the situation to be otherwise would be ahistorical.
The history of world politics is filled with examples of great powers invading other states, particularly in their sphere of influence, as Crimea has traditionally been to Moscow.
Moreover, and this is the real kicker, the US has repeatedly done likewise.
Since the 19th century, the US itself has invaded or otherwise intervened on countless occasions in states in its sphere of influence, the Latin American region, and further afield.
The ''trumped up'' qualification at the end of Mr Kerry's statement is critical for it to work even on the Administration's terms.
Just looking at the post-Cold War era, the US has used force against the ex-Yugoslavia state (without United Nations approval); invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, and even conducted espionage on close allies.
The foregoing is not to approve of President Vladimir Putin's actions, but to try to understand them.
If Russia's actions remain limited to Crimea and Georgia (which was invaded in 2008, detaching Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Tbilisi), they are understandable, if not necessarily virtuous.
Nor should we be surprised if further Russian action occurs in other parts of its periphery which were lost during an era of unprecedented post-Cold War weakness.
It is high time the Obama Administration dealt with the world as it is, rather than as it wants it to be.
• Dr Nicholas Khoo is a senior lecturer in the department of politics at the University of Otago where he teaches papers on war and politics, Chinese foreign policy, and international relations theory.
