President Barack Obama talks with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran during a phone call in the Oval Office, Sept. 27, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
US Foreign Policy: Trouble Abroad -- Geoff Dyer, Financial Times
Barack Obama is accused of timidity overseas, thereby raising fear and anger among allies.
When President Barack Obama ran for re-election in 2012, he pulled off what for Democrats was a remarkable feat – he took foreign policy off the table as a campaign issue.
Ever since Harry Truman was accused of “losing China”, Republicans have sought to cast their Democratic opponents as weak in the face of foreign challenges. Yet fresh from his risky but successful military operation to kill Osama bin Laden, Mr Obama side-stepped the usual assault during his re-election campaign. His challenger Mitt Romney hardly brought up foreign policy.
Eighteen months later, the political ground is shifting rapidly beneath Mr Obama’s feet. As he prepares to give an important address on foreign policy at West Point on Wednesday, the president finds himself under attack over what critics charge is a record of indecisive leadership.
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My Comment: The global perception of the U.S. has changed remarkably in the past few years .... from that of a super power to a nation that is in decline economically, militarily, and politically. And while our allies are concerned .... it is among our "adversaries" that this perception has had the biggest impact. Case in point .... Russia and China are no longer concerned that their actions may result in a U.S. blow-back that will hurt them on some level. They feel free to pursue their own goals .... and U.S. reaction be damned. But the reality on the ground is different .... the U.S. is still a superpower and it packs a powerful punch .... and heaven help those who underestimate what the U.S. is capable of doing.
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