Wiston Papers

America on the World Stage: What Role Do Obama and Romney Want Us to Play?

The third and final presidential debate is Monday night.  President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney will discuss foreign policy at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.

As the incumbent, Mr. Obama has the advantage in terms of intelligence information to which he is privy and Mr. Romney is not.  Unlike his domestic agenda, the president has some significant achievements he can tout.  However, he has also faced setbacks and frustrations in pursuing America’s agenda abroad.

Mr. Romney has one advantage.  His ideas in this arena are largely untested.  Governor Romney’s sole political venture into the foreign arena came last July as a candidate when he traveled to Europe.  Despite the predominantly negative initial assessments by many observers, our collective memories are short and any detritus from that trip has disappeared from recent campaign media coverage.  

Here is a preview of the debate that is expected to touch on a number of key regions.

MIDDLE EAST

America faces turbulent political unrest following the Arab Spring that dawned in January 2011.  The world awoke to anti-government demonstrations in Tunisia that quickly embroiled the region during ensuing weeks.  The fallout from this pent up desire for political and social freedom spread to Egypt, Bahrain, Syria and Libya and continues to challenge U.S. policy makers.

The Obama administration faces anti-American sentiment arising in part from Islamic radicals outraged over a film posted on YouTube last September that mocks the prophet Muhammad. Protests engulfed the Muslim world from Indonesia to Pakistan and from Morocco to Kuwait.   Terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Lybia killing the American Ambassador.

Meanwhile, Iran continues to develop its atomic capability raising fears that it may soon make as nuclear bomb.  And long-time American ally Israel threatens a preemptive strike against Tehran to stop it.

Although Washington can boast that it ended the war in Iraq and American troops killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, U.S. forces still remain bogged down in another Asian conflict in Afghanistan.

President Obama will cite Iraq and bin Laden as foreign policy victories.  Governor Romney will claim that America has abandoned its friends in Iraq, is leaving Afghanistan too soon, betrayed Israel in its relations with Iran, and has failed to provide security for American diplomats in Lybia and elsewhere.

EUROPE

Europe is in the midst of an economic crisis that threatens the future of the European Union (EU).  Greece, Italy, Spain--and to a lesser degree France--are teetering on financial collapse.  A calamity that would plunge America’s fragile economic recovery back into recession.

The over-extended financial institutions in the weakest, debt-plagued EU member nations Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland all are at risk.  Unless Washington can broker a rescue plan in which Germany takes the lead in bailing out its neighbors,  exports of American products to Europe will decline and the ripple effect will hurt U.S. companies that depend on European consumers.

President Obama will argue that the European economic crisis is partially responsible for America’s anemic financial recovery.  Governor Romney will make the case that the weak U.S. economy is the result  instead of homegrown misguided policies rooted in the White House.

ASIA

China takes center stage in America’s policies in Asia.  Washington accuses Beijing of pursuing unfair trade practices.  Mr. Romney alleges China is manipulating its currency to increase the level of Chinese products shipped to the U.S. while simultaneously depressing America's exports to China.

Both candidates are unhappy with Beijing and Sino-U.S. relations have cooled significantly. Nevertheless, whoever is our  next president, must deal with a China that will remain a major economic, political and military power for the foreseeable future.  Its influence in the region will affect how Washington deals with a possible nuclear North Korea, an erratic Pakistan and an uncertain ally in Afghanistan.

Pundits are fond of saying that Americans don’t choose their president based on foreign policy proposals. We’re more concerned with domestic issues.  But the United States is inextricably linked to the rest of the world.  The global economy has made every nation dependent upon and vulnerable to decisions made beyond her borders.   The United States does not have the luxury of enacting unilateral international initiatives without  regard to the ramifications on mainstreet USA.

America’s next president will have to make serious decisions in coming months.  Those decisions will have real consequences for every man, woman and child in the U.S.  

Monday’s presidential debate will be our final opportunity to compare the  visions that  President Obama and Governor Romney have for the United States.   The topic may be foreign policy, but in the 21st Century domestic and foreign issues cannot be separated.  The foreign agenda of the next president will affect each one of us here at home.

The two candidates deserve our attention.

Steve Coon

October 21, 2012