A big defining moment for any president and their administration is foreign policy. It can either make or break them. It’s impact is greater than many people give credit to. And, for the Obama administration it is proving to be a very difficult task to manage.
With the yet to be released book by Bob Woodward, Obama’s Wars, it is a telling picture as to the lack of direction, understanding and experience. Namely the quarrelling back and forth between members and even Obama, also show a lack of leadership within the administration.
The direction Obama displays for his foreign policy is shady to say least. It appears that every decision is made to foster his image. Many comments and statements point only to a ME mentality. Even when he has said that he would rather be a great one term president, saying that he wants to get out of Afghanistan quickly to so not to loose all the Democrats support say another thing.
If Obama was to really campaign his first term through, he would really focus on his foreign policy. Foreign policy impacts everything from the economy to national security. Our national security is impacted when we are deploying troops in excess of 100 other countries. It also impacts it in a way that opens the nation to other terrorist threats. Something that Obama has said we could absorb like we did with 9-11.
The arrogance in making a statement like that shows a total disconnect from reality. It is that very attack that has pushed us to the edge. The occupying of the Middle East region, in some opinions, is the very reason we were attacked. An attack that has put a heavy strain on the economy by trying to fund the war efforts. That isn’t to focus all of America’s economic woes on war funded efforts, but it certainly hasn’t helped.