How is President-elect Barack Obama planning to shape the foreign policy of his administration? Is he a Wilsonian idealist? A progressive realist? Some mix of the two? How Obama will define his foreign policy still remains somewhat of a mystery. Between now and when he actually begins his term of office, I expect that his rhetoric about U.S. foreign policy and America’s place in the world will become more expansive and lyrical. After all, this is to be expected. American chief executives traditionally use the post-election period, culminating in the Inaugural Address, as a time to appeal to our loftiest […]

As far as foreign policy goes, Barack Obama comes to the presidency totally unburdened by his past (this is truly his first act in the international political theater) and unusually credentialed as a presumed agent of future change (e.g., his biracial background alone), so he’s a relatively free agent, ideologically speaking. That’s a huge asset as he follows the highly ideological Bush-Cheney administration, because he encounters a world of labeled players, most of whom are eager to come in from whatever “cold” standing vis-à-vis the United States that their current designation implies. That doesn’t mean these regimes necessarily seek our […]

Obama and the EU

Since no one else seems to be very forthcoming about offering BarackObama advice on how to conduct his foreign policy, and since I’m surehe’s got some down time to fill catching up on his favorite blogs, Ithought I’d step up and do what’s right.In particular, with regards to Europe. A big part of Obama’s political technique is to go beyond coddling asympathetic constituency by appealing to its individual responsibilityand making hard demands of it to contribute to the solution for its ownproblems. (I’d call it a “S-st-h S–ldj-h” instinct if I hadn’t made avow to never utter that expression or […]

To hear some people tell the story, anti-Americanism will end now that Barack Obama has been elected president, bringing with him a traditional American respect for foreign cultures, international law, and multilateral diplomacy. The Bush legacy will fade from view, and Americans will once again be beloved around the globe, especially in Arab countries. The world, however, is not so simple. Anti-American riots first filled the streets of foreign nations more than a century ago, as the United States became a global power. They continued through the Cold War and beyond. Anti-American terrorism is not new, either. While some argue […]

Election Backgrounder: 20 WPR Picks

Whether you’re among those 4-8 percent of American voters who are undecided or if you just can’t get enough of all things election-related, we have selected 10 World Politics Review articles and 10 blog posts from recent months that, taken together, form a good primer on the foreign policy issues at stake in this election. Here they are, for your browsing pleasure. News and Commentary Articles 1. Arab World Suddenly Cooling to Obama, by Frida Ghitis, Oct. 302. Rethinking the 2002 Iraq War Resolution, by Bernard Finel, Oct. 173. Next President Likely Will Have More Use for the U.N., by […]

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