By Rachel Kleinfeld

President Obama is returning U.S. foreign policy to its firmest foundation: American power. His critics disagree. Former Senator Rick Santorum believes that Obama's European tour proved that our commander-in-chief is "contemptuous" of America, while neoconservative columnist Charles Krauthammer accused President Obama of celebrating our decline. One hears similar sentiments from other right-wing commentators.

They are lucky they have this dead-horse to beat: their exercise of power surely failed to beat anything else.

Laboring under the weight of President Bush's foreign policy failures, the Obama administration has a long list of crises to address. More important than any discrete challenge, however, is President Obama's overall approach to...