Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
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.
Pakistan may be forfeiting its sovereignty if it is incapable of cracking down on militants like those that launched the recent Mumbai attacks. As it appears increasingly unlikely that the Pakistani civilian government will be able to crack down effectively, the international community should intervene to protect Pakistan’s neighbors from the threat posed by Pakistani-based terrorists.
President-elect Barack Obama has assembled a bipartisan, centrist national security team, with an emphasis on pragmatic competence. Already faced with a daunting foreign policy inbox, the incoming administration must formulate a response to the Mumbai terrorist attacks without undermining either the current administration’s credibility or the already-weak Pakistani government.
Russia and Venezuela commence joint naval exercises this week, coming on the heels of Russian President Medvedev’s four-nation tour of South America. Though Russia’s recent closeness with U.S. neighbors may be an attempt to challenge U.S. regional primacy, the United States should avoid over-reacting.
The presidential transition has raised a variety of questions regarding the future of U.S. foreign policy. In an Bloggingheads debate with Robert Wright of the New America Foundation, Robert Kagan expressed his views and reaffirmed his belief that the power of nations—rather than international legal principles—must still play the defining role in shaping international relations.
There are a number of options and decisions that the Obama administration will be confronted by in closing Guantanamo Bay. Among them are what should be done with remaining detainees; how should those who have been charged with crimes be treated; how viable is rehabilitation?
One of the most urgent and troublesome foreign policy challenges for the incoming Obama administration is Iran. Iran policy is a Rubik's Cube of components, including Tehran's nuclear activities, its hostility to Israel, its role in Iraq and Afghanistan, its support for Hamas and Hezbollah and the nature of the Islamic republic itself.
The Sino-American relationship is one of the issues that looms largest as President-elect Obama prepares to assume office in less than two weeks. To asses the developments in that relationship over the last eight years, CCTV sat down with Jessica Mathews, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Douglas Paal, Vice President for Studies.
In addition to being a turning point for American society, Barack Obama’s election as president also brings the country great opportunity on the global stage. Joining three other historians to discuss the recent election, Robert Kagan highlights Obama’s popularity abroad and expresses hope that the president-elect can use this to his advantage in the foreign policy realm.
The global financial crisis is too pressing for the next administration to wait until January to address. President-elect Obama must re-assess the international financial infrastructure, and decide whether an institutional solution would be more effective than the current ad hoc collaboration.