Are Obama and Putin playing “Chicken?”

The U.S. and Russian governments are polarized on the future of Ukraine, and the annexation of Crimea. The outcome will affect Euro/Russo/U.S. relations for years to come. If Obama concedes, he'll look like he's kowtowing to Putin, who is unlikely to abandon plans to enlarge Russia's sphere. Is this an international game of “chicken?” 

This is not the first game of “chicken” between these two. Last year Obama surrendered control to Putin over the issue of disposing chemical weapons in Syria. And since drawing a red line with Iran, Obama has been resisted by Putin in stopping, or even slowing down, Iran's Russian-backed nuclear development program.

Why does this matter to us?  Most theologians believe Bible prophecy excludes any U.S. role in the end times. Is it too implausible to think that the influence of the world's only superpower could be waning? Could these failed “chicken” games be, as Joel Rosenberg would say, a harbinger of things to come? Is it not incumbent on us to discern the times, and to pay attention to these things?