Obama Foreign Policy Puts World at Risk

The conventional wisdom after the election, especially after the last debate, is that there was little light between President Obama and Mitt Romney on foreign policy. Maybe Romney wanted to arm the Syrians and declare the Chinese currency manipulators, but he and Obama hugged each other on policy toward Iran and—because Romney never raised the issue—the administration’s response to the Benghazi attack. But that conclusion would be incorrect. The foreign policies of Obama and Romney, or what is now the loyal opposition, could not be wider apart. Obama’s foreign policy is inordinately piecemeal, even picayune. It lacks a vision that draws connections between specific issues, such as terrorism, and the broader American interest to protect and promote freedom. The loyal opposition, by contrast, connects the dots between terrorism and authoritarian challenges to American and global freedom.