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In a special live broadcast of the BBC’s The World Tonight program, Carnegie experts assessed the foreign policy priorities facing President-elect Barack Obama. The wide-ranging discussion focused on issues from Iraq, climate change, and the Middle East peace process, to Russia and Iran.
Successive U.S. administrations have forfeited the chance to integrate Russia into the West first afforded by the collapse of Communism and again by 9/11. The United States has either neglected Russia or openly disregarded its overtures and warnings on a range of regional concerns. President-elect Obama needs a comprehensive approach to Russia based on a shared vision of European security.
Although China has captured the world's attention because of its impressive growth rates, its economy remains smaller than Japan's. Some analysts argue that the United States has engaged China at the expense of disengaging from Japan. Japanese Ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki, offer a perspective on Japan's role in Asia.
Women's leadership in international security is moving from the sidelines to center court, but the bench is not deep enough, and too many women are taking themselves out of the game. President-elect Obama’s administration should draw on the pool of talented women to bring fresh perspective to his international security team.
European priorities for Middle East policy include greater engagement with the Arab-Israeli peace process and with Iran. The advent of a new U.S. administration and greater diplomatic engagement by Arab states offer the hope of new approaches and possibilities for cooperation.
One of President-elect Obama’s main foreign policy challenges will be figuring out the proper approach to dealing with Russia. Although ties with Russia have been damaged because of the August Russia-Georgia crisis, Russia, a re-emerged power, is a key player in issues such as Iranian nuclear proliferation and the Middle East peace process.
"Global Zero" has become a well-known slogan to revive the decades-old idea of eliminating all nuclear weapons. Interest in abolition has been renewed by the concern that the use of nuclear weapons could become ever more likely. With nuclear deterrence we bought time, but it would be a tremendous mistake to believe that deterrence will always work.
As lawmakers appears to be finalizing a bailout package for the automobile industry, experts disagree over the prudence of this bailout. Many believe that the government should stick to what it has historically done best—regulating and adjusting incentives to guide industry—rather than attempting to invest in and manage the auto industry.
Despite his campaign promises, Obama’s initial foreign policy might not differ dramatically from Bush’s policies of the last two years. After failures during his first six years in office, Bush has struck a more diplomatic tone in recent years. Obama, who has tapped several Bush administration veterans for his own national security team, is likely to continue on this increasingly diplomatic path.
Despite the tangled history of India and Pakistan, the latest terrorist attacks in Mumbai require the world to take a fresh look at the nature of the terrorist threat. Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terrorist group which carried out the attacks, is a global threat, seeking to promote an Islamic Caliphate by breaking up India and destroying confidence in stable democracies.
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