The Realist Prism: To Secure Policy Gains, Obama Should Not Run for Re-Election

The Realist Prism: To Secure Policy Gains, Obama Should Not Run for Re-Election

At the beginning of this year, I made the following observation:

The novelty of the Obama presidency has worn off. What remains will be a long, hard slog of rebuilding America's global position. And while the fancy rhetoric of 2009 convinced many to give Washington a second chance, 2010 needs to be the year of delivery. If not, Obama will discover, as Bush did before him, that America cannot lead if others will not follow.

More than halfway through 2010, the Obama administration has made some progress on a number of the foreign policy challenges facing the United States. There has been a modest breakthrough in Washington's previously contentious relations with Moscow. Not only did a new Iran sanctions resolution pass in the U.N. Security Council, the European Union agreed to severely curtail its economic and business links with Tehran. A "surge" is set to begin in Afghanistan, and the U.S. is preparing to wind down its combat mission in Iraq.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.

More World Politics Review