President Obama, in the past, has demonstrated a way with written words, and he’s done so again, this time in a joint op-ed with British Prime Minister David Cameron for the London Times published on the eve of last week’s NATO meeting in Wales. Promising that “we will not be cowed” by ISIS, the Islamist group that has beheaded two American journalists, the president and prime minister declared: “Those who want to adopt an isolationist approach misunderstand the nature of security in the 21st century. Developments in other parts of the world, particularly in Iraq and Syria, threaten our security at home.”
But the question is whether Obama has the will to live up to those words — even on his own, if our allies, including his co-author, will not join us. But to do so, the president would have to possess characteristics he’s shown he lacks over the past five and a half years: an interest in and understanding of foreign policy, the humility to know what he doesn’t know and the leadership to forgo partisanship in the national interest.
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