The Republican Party has been busy trashing President Barack Obama and economic problems in America, but has failed to address the world scene and our foreign and defense policy.
Barack Obama has done a masterful job in many ways on the international scene, often seen as his strong point, particularly with dealing with international terrorism, including Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Many problems, of course, remain, including North Korea, Iran, China and the Middle East crisis. He has also had a masterful Secretary of State in Hillary Clinton!
But the question arises: Do the Republican candidates have any vision of how to deal with the outside world, considering that only former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has had any real expertise, as former Ambassador to Singapore and China?
Well, now, Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts has announced in a speech at The Citadel in South Carolina, what is defined as a “muscular” foreign policy!
Romney calls for:
1. Increased Naval shipbuilding.
2. Strengthening alliances with Great Britain, Israel and Mexico
3. Keeping aircraft carrier groups in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent against Iran
4. Spending more on national missile defense
5. Renewed emphasis on diplomacy and foreign aid to the Middle East
6. Increased diplomacy and trade with Latin America
7. Figuring out how to deal with Afghanistan beyond 2014
8. Devising a national cyber security strategy
Romney calls for a “new American Century”, with aggressive and hawkish foreign policy reminiscent of Ronald Reagan and the two Presidents Bush. This is in contradiction of the Tea Party Movement followers, and the libertarian, isolationist view of Congressman Ron Paul, an opponent in the Republican Presidential contest and his son, Senator Rand Paul, as well as liberal Democrats who want to avoid military conflicts overseas, which Romney seems clear to be unwilling to avoid if it is seen as necessary to assert American power.
Romney’s doubt about working through the United Nations will also turn many off from his strong foreign policy and defense policy statements, and of course, the question will be how the costs of this new, bold foreign policy will be managed in the present budget mess we are facing as a nation!
Next week, Jon Huntsman will enunciate his views, as foreign policy goes from the back burner to the front burner of American politics, as indeed it needs to do. But the question is can Romney or Huntsman convince the American people that Barack Obama has not, overall, been successful in areas of defense and foreign policy?
One thinks that will be difficult to convince the nation over the next year!