The Realist Prism: Obama Must Deliver in 2010

During the holiday season, pundits traditionally pen their "end of year" assessments of a presidential administration. Some even assign a grade, as if foreign policy can be reduced to a kind of schoolwork assignment.

But instead of grading the performance of the president and his team over the past year, I'd rather take a look at the environment in which his administration must operate after the New Year. And for President Barack Obama, 2010 is going to be a challenging year indeed. ...