Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

I don't know, Steve. I'd tend to say that foreign relations is all about achieving the objectives that are set for this country.

I might go farther and say that our objectives shouldn't include any "feel good" stuff or policies designed to make us feel better without achieving much for the American public other than that. The "foreign policies" I'm talking about are those wherein the relationships we strike with other countries will benefit this country and our residents, moreso than any benefit that our policies might have that would improve or promote the lot of the residents of other sovereign nations, and certainly not any foreign policy actions which do nothing more than make any of our political leaders "look good"..

As mentioned in the Foreign Policy Agenda of the U.S. Department of State, our foreign policy is designed "to create a more secure, democratic, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people..." Some of the jurisdictional goals of our foreign policy include: "export controls, including nonproliferation of nuclear technology and nuclear hardware; measures to foster commercial intercourse with foreign nations and to safeguard American business abroad; international commodity agreements; international education; and protection of American citizens abroad."

What I'm saying is that the conduct of our foreign policy will be successful if the objectives noted above are accomplished. If they are, it makes little difference of how our leaders appear on the world stage. What's far more important is what they accomplish. Specifically, if nothing of consequence to benefit the U.S. by our President blowing off the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Hugo Chavez, I would take little satisfaction from that.

The name of the game is what our leadership can accomplish for our benefit in conducting our relationships with foreign countries and their leaders, nothing more or nothing less.

You use a word with special meaning - leadership!

Being a leader requires acting like one, because your actions have special meaning to those behind you (whom you are supposed to be leading) and those in front of you (whose actions towards the US will be based on the leader's backbone, or lack thereof). When the "leader" loses the faith of those behind him/her, those in front (a.k.a. Foreign Policy targets) of him/her tend to be more demonstrative, and foreign policy becomes defensive.

President Obama was elected not because he was the desired choice of the majority, but that his opponent lost the support of many of his party's sub-groups. He was unknown on the international scene and totally inexperienced in dealing with other heads-of-state. President Obama still has to "earn his stars" as a national leader, especially if he wants to remain in government housing beyond 2012. Bowing to those who are his international peers (and I'm being generous with that label) and his rhetoric to date have made "waffle" the expectation.

Here's hoping the in-flight entertainment on Air Force One starts showing "Midway," "We Were Soldiers," and "Apollo 13."

Originally Posted by SteveZ

You use a word with special meaning - leadership!

Being a leader requires acting like one, because your actions have special meaning to those behind you (whom you are supposed to be leading) and those in front of you (whose actions towards the US will be based on the leader's backbone, or lack thereof). When the "leader" loses the faith of those behind him/her, those in front (a.k.a. Foreign Policy targets) of him/her tend to be more demonstrative, and foreign policy becomes defensive.

President Obama was elected not because he was the desired choice of the majority, but that his opponent lost the support of many of his party's sub-groups. He was unknown on the international scene and totally inexperienced in dealing with other heads-of-state. President Obama still has to "earn his stars" as a national leader, especially if he wants to remain in government housing beyond 2012. Bowing to those who are his international peers (and I'm being generous with that label) and his rhetoric to date have made "waffle" the expectation.

Here's hoping the in-flight entertainment on Air Force One starts showing "Midway," "We Were Soldiers," and "Apollo 13."

Or my favorite Braveheart. FREEDOM