TIME: Obama reduced

On the cover of the latest TIME:

From the cover story, "Across The Red Line":

From the start of his presidency, Obama sounded his call in speeches from Washington to Prague to Cairo, describing a transformed world order--"a revolutionary world" where "we can do improbable, sometimes impossible things." Cynics said Obama was just putting a gloss on harsh economic reality: deep in debt and with its financial sector in a tailspin, the U.S. couldn't afford an interventionist foreign policy. But Obama seemed genuine enough when he spoke of starting a dialogue of "mutual respect" with Iran, and to other rivals, he vowed that "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." Reason would replace raw power, and the neoconservative vision would be retired. It was hope and change on a global scale.

But history, it has turned out, wasn't interested. ...

The world watched to see whether Obama would flinch from the role of global cop. He had already allowed multiple chemical-weapons attacks [in Syria] to come and go without any clear consequences beyond modest U.S. support for a disorderly rebel movement.

Read the full article here.