President Obama departed Washington, D.C. last week for a 10-day visit to India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan following the Democratic Party’s historic defeat in the 2010 mid-term elections. It’s a routine foreign trip, like others the well-traveled president has made since he took office, unless it marks a new beginning of President Obama’s personal involvement in foreign policy.
It’s not uncommon for presidents, when opposition-party majorities in one or both houses of Congress stymie their domestic-policy agendas , to spend more time on foreign policy. It’s the domain of presidential power least fettered by Congress. President Obama can use the second half of his term to build a list of foreign-policy accomplishments he can run on in the 2012 election as Republicans seek to dismantle his domestic-policy agenda at home. There’s only one problem—there must be some extraordinary foreign-policy accomplishments. (More)
Filed under: National Security, Politics, The Presidency, 2010 mid-term elections, 2012 elections, Afghanistan, Bilateral Consultative Commission, brinksmanship, Congress, Democratic Party, domestic policy, domestic policy agenda, Ed Ross, ewross, foreign policy, foreign policy doctrine, foreign policy president, fundamentally transform America, global governance, India, Indonesia, instincts, Iraq, Japan, John Kennedy, last refuge, leadership style, liberal president, Middle East peace, military power, missile defense, missiles, President Obama, presidential leadership, redistribution of wealth, republicans, Ronald Reagan, South Korea, Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, United Nations, Washington D.C., West Bank, world community
The START treaty is a major victory for Obama. What about his other accomplishments? Please see
http://thisweekwithmitchgrosky.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/president-obamas-december-to-remember/
I disagree that the start treaty is a major accomplishment for Pres. Obama. I think treaty is seriously flawed and should have been modified by the Senate and renegotiate with the Russians.