Positives And Negatives In President Obama’s Foreign Policy:

Photo: Pete Souza, White House

Obama's "I'm Not George W. Bush" Foreign Policy -- Robert Kaplan, Real Clear World/Stratfor

On the face of it, President Barack Obama's foreign policy is not at all terrible. He ended U.S. military involvement in Iraq. He is severely reducing U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. He kept U.S. involvement in Libya to a reasonable minimum, and has not gotten drawn into the infernally complex civil war in Syria. Meanwhile, his secretary of state, John Kerry, is engaged in the first serious attempt at achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace in 13 years, even while Obama has kept his trigger-finger calm on Iran, thus positioning the United States for some sort of rapprochement with Tehran in the event that the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, is serious about improving relations. Moreover, given the humanitarian impulses of his new national security adviser and U.N. ambassador, Obama can now more easily talk like an idealist while practicing realism: the combination that usually works in foreign affairs.

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My Comment: President Obama's foreign policy has been .... by design .... unremarkable. I am happy that he did not change the treaty with Iraq on U.S. withdrawal, and I am happy that he is finally withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. And while American counter terrorism policy has now involved U.S. military and intelligence forces in numerous countries (Yemen, Niger, etc.) .... their footprint has been low-key and unremarkable with the exception of a few hiccups (Benghazi). And while much of the Middle East is unraveling .... Iraq on the precipice of civil war .... Afghanistan is still a failed state .... Al Qaeda rising .... the Russian reset is dead .... and China is escalating the bullying of it's neighbors .... the fact is that the U.S. public wants a disengaged U.S. foreign policy ... and voted for the prefect candidate to pursue this policy. After all .... President Obama never really ran on a foreign policy platform .... in fact .... his focus has been unchanged since running for President in 2008 .... and that platform has always been to transform this country.

So yup .... George W. Bush he (President Obama) ain't.

An Interview With President Obama

Fareed Zakaria interviews President Obama for TIME in the Oval Office on Jan. 18, 2012. Christopher Morris / VII for TIME

Inside Obama’s World: The President Talks To TIME About The Changing Nature Of American Power -- Fareed Zakaria, Time

In an exclusive interview with TIME's Fareed Zakaria, President Obama opens up on Iran, Afghanistan, China and the challenges the U.S. faces in navigating a rapidly changing world. A full transcript of their conversation follows

Fareed Zakaria: When we talked when you were campaigning for the presidency, I asked you which Administration’s foreign policy you admired. And you said that you looked at George H.W. Bush’s diplomacy, and I took that to mean the pragmatism, the sense of limits, good diplomacy, as you looked upon it favorably. Now that you are President, how has your thinking evolved?

President Obama: It is true that I’ve been complimentary of George H.W. Bush’s foreign policy, and I continue to believe that he managed a very difficult period very effectively. Now that I’ve been in office for three years, I think that I’m always cautious about comparing what we’ve done to what others have done, just because each period is unique. Each set of challenges is unique. But what I can say is that I made a commitment to change the trajectory of American foreign policy in a way that would end the war in Iraq, refocus on defeating our primary enemy, al-Qaeda, strengthen our alliances and our leadership in multilateral fora and restore American leadership in the world. And I think we have accomplished those principal goals.

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2012 Is Shaping Up To Be A Tough Year For President Obama`s Foreign Policy

President Obama with Secretary Clinton at the White House. Department of State

If 2011 Was a Turbulent Year for Obama’s Foreign Policy, 2012 Looks Set to Be Worse -- Tony Karon, Time

The foreign policy crisis horizon shows little respect for the calendar New Year: The Obama Administration ought to have a pretty good idea of the crises that await it in different global hotspots as it braces for election year, 2012. But a recurring theme in the current menu of challenges, whether in the Middle East, north or south Asia, Africa or Europe, is the declining leverage available to Washington to shape favorable outcomes.

President Obama's reelection prospects may be in part shaped by events from America's shores, and yet in most cases the outcome of those events will be determined by others. If 2011 seemed unusually turbulent, 2012 — well, best fasten that seatbelt.

Herewith, a survey of the top ten global crisis issues facing the U.S. in the new year.

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My Comment: The economy will be the big issue, and if the Euro collapses as predicted for 2012 .... the economy will be the only issue.

How Obama Sees The World

Presidential Candidate Barack Obama Holding Fareed Zakaria Latest Book

From Newsweek:

The rap on Barack Obama, at least in the realm of foreign policy, has been that he is a softheaded idealist who thinks that he can charm America's enemies. John McCain and his campaign, conservative columnists and right-wing bloggers all paint a picture of a liberal dreamer who wishes away the world's dangers. Even President Bush stepped into the fray earlier this year to condemn the Illinois senator's willingness to meet with tyrants as naive. Some commentators have acted as if Obama, touring the Middle East and Europe this week on his first trip abroad since effectively wrapping up the nomination, is in for a rude awakening.

These critiques, however, are off the mark. Over the course of the campaign against Hillary Clinton and now McCain, Obama has elaborated more and more the ideas that would undergird his foreign policy as president. What emerges is a world view that is far from that of a typical liberal, much closer to that of a traditional realist. It is interesting to note that, at least in terms of the historical schools of foreign policy, Obama seems to be the cool conservative and McCain the exuberant idealist.

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My Comment: Fareed Zakaria wants to see what he wants from Barack Obama, and Barack Obama obliged him. I naturally have a different take on Barack Obama than what Fareed Zakaria has.

I was struck in an interview that Barack Obama gave a few months ago in which he stated that the philosopher/moralist that he admired the most was Reinhold Niebuhr, Jimmy Carter's favorite theologian. Reinhold Niebuhr's is the late 20th century's most innovative philosopher, bringing and discussing concepts like "just war", and the inherent evil in man.

The money quote that Mr. Obama has made in reference to his personal philosophy is the following:

From Niebuhr, Obama gleaned that, "There's serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. I take away ... the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naïve idealism to bitter realism." He then called Niebuhr his "favourite philosopher."

This sounds very idealistic to me .... a point that Fareed Zakaria does not want to explore.

I perceive Mr. Obama as a man who (like former President Jimmy Carter) wants to project soft power. That through discussion, persuasion, the influence of allies, etc., that America's long term strategic needs can be met.

I disagree.

Mr. Obama's approach towards using soft power after 9/11 would have been a disaster. Al Qaeda would still be entrenched in their Afghan camps (many times more stronger than what they were then), Saddam Hussein .... a messianic despot if their ever was one .... would still be in power but without sanctions or restrictions. Nuclear programs will be the norm in Libya, North Korea, and elsewhere.

9/11 was a sequence of events in which hard power had to be the response. The American people knew this, the President and Congress knew this, but Barack Obama felt and still feels that there should have been a limit to this application.

Barack Obama has great faith in international institutions, and that they should be used to pursue American strategic goals within its framework. Again .... I will disagree. International institutions have been a dismal failure in the past 20 years. Rwanda, oil for food program in Iraq, Somalia, and today .... Zimbabwe, Darfur, Burma, the Horn of Africa, Iran's nuclear program, and rogue states.

My most worrisome concern about Barack Obama is that much of what he stands for is still not known. He has shielded himself from making policy announcements on where he stands. I know that it is still early in the campaign, but this silence is troubling. He must feel that what he is comfortable with will not resonate with the American public. I have always learned that if one feels comfortable with a position, there will be no problem for him to vocalize this point of view. With the exception of Iraq , in which he has repeatedly voiced the need to withdraw now .... what his approach towards other foreign policy concerns is still lacking in specifics.

I hope that his policy specifics will be known before November.