they are trying to build up leading to this meeting. the question is what are some practical things that they can get putin to cooperate on. there are many practical things they need him for, and one of them is on the nuclear issue, and one of them is on the cyber security issue, and i think that these are the things that are going to be worked out behind the scenes. between the two leaders, i think they want to establish a sense of mutual respect and in order to do that it seems the white house believes they have to -- they have to have the backup of the global community in order to project toughness and resolve going into that meeting. >> charles, you have written extensively about american isolationism and the consequences of that. we have talked about biden being a player on the world stage for decades now but we can't return to just as if this is january 19th, 2017, right? what is the work that this president has to do to return the u.s. to many of the places that leadership spots that it