Barack Obama promised during the 2008 campaign that he would rebuild America’s image abroad and restore our ties to nations around the world. Now, more than a year later, we can take stock of the result.
The administration insulted Great Britain, first by returning its gift of a bust of Winston Churchill and now by challenging British sovereignty in the Falklands. The administration deliberately picked a fight with Israel over new settlements in Jerusalem, which has brought U.S.-Israeli relations to their lowest point since the mid-Seventies. The administration blindsided the Australians by canceling a presidential trip there in order to ram home the health-care bill
. The administration infuriated the democracies in Eastern Europe by backing down on missile defense and getting into a fracas with India in Copenhagen over global warming.
