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05/10/2007

Barack Obama's Foreign Policy

The other day I was reading an op-ed in the Washington Post by
strategist Robert Kagan, who you could best describe as
conservative, and he noted that a recent foreign policy address by
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, perhaps
surprisingly, “put an end to the idea that the alleged
overexuberant idealism and America-centric hubris of the past
six years is about to give way to a new realism, a more limited
and modest view of American interests, capabilities and
responsibilities.”

Obama’s speech at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (April
23, 2007) was, in Kagan’s words, “pure John Kennedy It had a
deliberate New Frontier feel Obama believes the world yearns
to follow us, if only we restore our worthiness to lead.
Personally, I like it.”

So we’ll see how the campaign unfolds as Obama adds meat to
his policy positions, but in light of Kagan’s musings I thought it
would be useful to excerpt the senator’s speech for the record.

---

Senator Barack Obama

We all know that these are not the best of times for America’s
reputation in the world. We know what the war in Iraq has cost
us in lives and treasure, in influence and respect. We have seen
the consequences of a foreign policy based on a flawed ideology,
and a belief that tough talk can replace real strength and vision.

Many around the world are disappointed with our actions. And
many in our own country have come to doubt either our wisdom
or our capacity to shape events beyond our borders. Some have
even suggested that America’s time has passed.

But while we know what we have lost as a consequence of this
tragic war, I also know what I have found in my travels over the
past two years.

In an old building in Ukraine, I saw test tubes filled with anthrax
and the plague lying virtually unlocked and unguarded – dangers
we were told could only be secured with America’s help.

On a trip to the Middle East, I met Israelis and Palestinians who
told me that peace remains a distant hope without the promise of
American leadership.

At a camp along the border of Chad and Darfur, refugees begged
for America to step in and help stop the genocide that has taken
their mothers and fathers, sons and daughters.

And along the crowded streets of Kenya, I met throngs of
children who asked if they’d ever get the chance to visit that
magical place called America.

So I reject the notion that the American moment has passed. I
dismiss the cynics who say that this new century cannot be
another when, in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, we
lead the world in batting immediate evils and promoting the
ultimate good.

I still believe that America is the last, best hope of Earth. We
just have to show the world why this is so. The President may
occupy the White House, but for the last six years the position of
leader of the free world has remained open. And it’s time to fill
that role once more.

I believe that the single most important job of any President is to
protect the American people. And I am equally convinced that
doing that job effectively in the 21st century will require a new
vision of American leadership and a new conception of our
national security – a vision that draws from the lessons of the
past, but is not bound by outdated thinking.

In today’s globalized world, the security of the American people
is inextricably linked to the security of all people. When narco-
trafficking and corruption threaten democracy in Latin America,
it’s America’s problem too. When poor villagers in Indonesia
have no choice but to send chickens to market infected with
avian flu, it cannot be seen as a distant concern. When religious
schools in Pakistan teach hatred to young children, our children
are threatened as well.

Whether it’s global terrorism or pandemic disease, dramatic
climate change or the proliferation of weapons of mass
annihilation, the threats we face at the dawn of the 21st century
can no longer be contained by borders and boundaries.

The horrific attacks on the clear September day awakened us to
this new reality. And after 9/11, millions around the world were
ready to stand with us. They were willing to rally to our cause
because it was their cause too – because they knew that if
America led the world toward a new era of global cooperation,
it would advance the security of people in our nation and all
nations.

We now know how badly the Administration squandered that
opportunity. In 2002, I stated my opposition to the war in Iraq,
not only because it was an unnecessary diversion from the
struggle against the terrorists who attacked us on September 11th,
but also because it was based on a fundamental misunderstanding
of the threats that 9/11 brought to light. I believed then, and
believe now, that it was based on old ideologies and outdated
strategies – a determination to fight a 21st century struggle with a
20th century mindset.

There is no doubt that the mistakes of the past six years have
made our current task more difficult. World opinion has turned
against us. And after all the lives lost and the billions of dollars
spent, many Americans may find it tempting to turn inward, and
cede our claim of leadership in world affairs.

I insist, however, that such an abandonment of our leadership is a
mistake we must not make. America cannot meet the threats of
this century alone, but the world cannot meet them without
America. We must neither retreat from the world nor try to bully
it into submission – we must lead the world, by deed and
example.

We must lead by building a 21st century military to ensure the
security of our people and advance the security of all people. We
must lead by marshaling a global effort to stop the spread of the
world’s most dangerous weapons. We must lead by building and
strengthening the partnerships and alliances necessary to meet
our common challenges and defeat our common threats.

And America must lead by reaching out to all those living
disconnected lives of despair in the world’s forgotten corners –
because while there will always be those who succumb to hate
and strap bombs to their bodies, there are millions more who
want to take another path – who want our beacon of hope to
shine its light their way.

This election offers us the chance to turn the page and open a
new chapter in American leadership. The disappointment that so
many around the world feel toward America right now is only a
testament to the high expectations they hold for us. We must
meet those expectations again, not because being respected is an
end in itself, but because the security of America and the wider
world demands it.

---

No President should ever hesitate to use force – unilaterally if
necessary – to protect ourselves and our vital interests when we
are attacked or imminently threatened. But when we use force in
situations other than self-defense, we should make every effort to
garner the clear support and participation of others – the kind of
burden-sharing and support President George H.W. Bush
mustered before he launched Operation Desert Storm .

(America must also lead) by marshaling a global effort to meet a
threat that rises above all others in urgency – securing,
destroying, and stopping the spread of weapons of mass
destruction.

As leaders from Henry Kissinger to George Schultz to Bill Perry
to Sam Nunn have all warned, the actions we are taking today on
this issue are simply not adequate to the danger.

There are still about 50 tons of highly enriched uranium – some
of it poorly secured – at civilian nuclear facilities in over forty
countries around the world. In the former Soviet Union, there
are still about 15,000 to 16,000 nuclear weapons and stockpiles
of uranium and plutonium capable of making another 40,000
weapons scattered across 11 time zones. And people have
already been caught trying to smuggle nuclear materials to sell
them on the black market.

We can do something about this. As President, I will lead a
global effort to secure all nuclear weapons and material at
vulnerable sites within four years – the most effective way to
prevent terrorists from acquiring a bomb.

We know that Russia is neither our enemy nor close ally right
now, and we shouldn’t shy away from pushing for more
democracy, transparency, and accountability in that country. But
we also know that we can and must work with Russia to make
sure every one of its nuclear weapons and every cache of nuclear
material is secured. And we should fully implement the law I
passed with Senator Dick Lugar that would help the United
States and our allies detect and stop the smuggling of weapons of
mass destruction throughout the world.

While we work to secure existing stockpiles of nuclear material,
we should also negotiate a verifiable global ban on the
production of new nuclear weapons material.

As starting points, the world must prevent Iran from acquiring
nuclear weapons and work to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear
weapons program. If America does not lead, these two nations
could trigger regional arms races that could accelerate nuclear
proliferation on a global scale and create dangerous nuclear
flashpoints. In pursuit of this goal, we must never take the
military option off the table. But our first line of offense here
must be sustained, direct and aggressive diplomacy. For North
Korea, that means ensuring the full implementation of the recent
agreement. For Iran, it means getting the UN Security Council,
Europe, and the Gulf States to join with us in ratcheting up the
economic pressure.

---

(In strengthening NATO), we should (seek) to build new
alliances and relationships in other regions important to our
interests in the 21st century. In Asia, the emergence of an
economically vibrant, more politically active China offers new
opportunities for prosperity and cooperation, but also poses new
challenges for the United States and our partners in the region. It
is time for the United States to take a more active role here – to
build on our strong bilateral relations and informal arrangements
like the Six Party talks. As President, I intend to forge a more
effective regional framework in Asia that will promote stability,
prosperity and help us confront common transnational threats
such as tracking down terrorists and responding to global health
problems like avian flu.

---

I know that many Americans are skeptical about the value of
foreign aid today. But as the U.S. military made clear in Camp
Lemonier, a relatively small investment in these fragile states up
front can be one of the most effective ways to prevent the terror
and strife that is far more costly – both in lives and treasure –
down the road. In this way, $50 billion a year in foreign aid –
which is less than one-half of one percent of our GDP – doesn’t
sound as costly when you consider that last year, the Pentagon
spent nearly double that amount in Iraq alone.

Finally, while America can help others build more secure
societies, we must never forget that only the citizens of these
nations can sustain them. The corruption I heard about while
visiting parts of Africa has been around for decades, but the
hunger to eliminate such corruption is a growing and powerful
force among people there. And so in these places where fear and
want still thrive, we must couple our aid with an insistent call for
reform.

We must do so not in the spirit of a patron, but the spirit of a
partner – a partner that is mindful of its own imperfections.
Extending an outstretched hand to these states must ultimately be
more than just a matter of expedience or even clarity. It must be
about recognizing the inherent equality and worth of all people.
And it’s about showing the world that America stands for
something – that we can still lead.

These are the ways we will answer the challenge that arrived on
our shores that September morning more than five years ago. A
21st century military to stay on the offense, from Djibouti to
Kandahar. Global efforts to keep the world’s deadliest weapons
out of the world’s most dangerous hands. Stronger alliances to
share information, pool resources, and break up terrorist
networks that operate in more than eighty countries. And a
stronger push to defeat the terrorists’ message of hate with an
agenda for hope around the world.

It’s time we had a President who can do this again – who can
speak directly to the world, and send a message to all those men
and women beyond our shores who long for lives of dignity and
security that says “You matter to us. Your future is our future.
And our moment is now.”

It’s time, as well, for a President who can build a consensus at
home for this ambitious but necessary course. For in the end, no
foreign policy can succeed unless the American people
understand it and feel a stake in its success – and unless they
trust that their government hears their more immediate concerns
as well. After all, we will not be able to increase aid if we fail to
invest in security and opportunity for our own people. We
cannot negotiate trade agreements to help spur development in
poor countries so long as we provide no meaningful help to
working Americans burdened by the dislocations of a global
economy. We cannot expect Americans to support placing our
men and women in harm’s way if we cannot prove that we will
use force wisely and judiciously .

America is the country that helped liberate a continent from the
march of a madman. We are the country that told the brave
people of a divided city that we were Berliners too. We sent
generations of young people to serve as ambassadors for peace in
countries all over the world. And we’re the country that rushed
aid throughout Asia for the victims of a devastating tsunami.

Now it’s our moment to lead – our generation’s time to tell
another great American story. So someday we can tell our
children that this was the time when we helped forge peace in the
Middle East. That this was the time when we confronted climate
change and secured the weapons that could destroy the human
race. This was the time when we brought opportunity to those
forgotten corners of the world. And this was the time when we
renewed the America that has led generations of weary travelers
from all over the world to find opportunity, and liberty, and hope
on our doorstep.

One of these travelers was my father. I barely knew him, but
when, after his death, I finally took my first trip to his tiny
village in Kenya and asked my grandmother if there was
anything left from him, she opened a trunk and took out a stack
of letters, which she handed to me.

There were more than thirty of them, all handwritten by my
father, all addressed to colleges and universities across America,
all filled with the hope of a young man who dreamed of more for
his life.

It is because someone in this country answered that prayer that I
stand before you today with faith in our future, confidence in our
story, and a determination to do my part in writing our country’s
next great chapter.

The American moment has not passed. The American moment is
here. And like generations before us, we will seize that moment,
and begin the world anew.

---

Hott Spotts will return next week.

Brian Trumbore


AddThis Feed Button

 

-05/10/2007-      
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Hot Spots

05/10/2007

Barack Obama's Foreign Policy

The other day I was reading an op-ed in the Washington Post by
strategist Robert Kagan, who you could best describe as
conservative, and he noted that a recent foreign policy address by
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, perhaps
surprisingly, “put an end to the idea that the alleged
overexuberant idealism and America-centric hubris of the past
six years is about to give way to a new realism, a more limited
and modest view of American interests, capabilities and
responsibilities.”

Obama’s speech at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (April
23, 2007) was, in Kagan’s words, “pure John Kennedy It had a
deliberate New Frontier feel Obama believes the world yearns
to follow us, if only we restore our worthiness to lead.
Personally, I like it.”

So we’ll see how the campaign unfolds as Obama adds meat to
his policy positions, but in light of Kagan’s musings I thought it
would be useful to excerpt the senator’s speech for the record.

---

Senator Barack Obama

We all know that these are not the best of times for America’s
reputation in the world. We know what the war in Iraq has cost
us in lives and treasure, in influence and respect. We have seen
the consequences of a foreign policy based on a flawed ideology,
and a belief that tough talk can replace real strength and vision.

Many around the world are disappointed with our actions. And
many in our own country have come to doubt either our wisdom
or our capacity to shape events beyond our borders. Some have
even suggested that America’s time has passed.

But while we know what we have lost as a consequence of this
tragic war, I also know what I have found in my travels over the
past two years.

In an old building in Ukraine, I saw test tubes filled with anthrax
and the plague lying virtually unlocked and unguarded – dangers
we were told could only be secured with America’s help.

On a trip to the Middle East, I met Israelis and Palestinians who
told me that peace remains a distant hope without the promise of
American leadership.

At a camp along the border of Chad and Darfur, refugees begged
for America to step in and help stop the genocide that has taken
their mothers and fathers, sons and daughters.

And along the crowded streets of Kenya, I met throngs of
children who asked if they’d ever get the chance to visit that
magical place called America.

So I reject the notion that the American moment has passed. I
dismiss the cynics who say that this new century cannot be
another when, in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, we
lead the world in batting immediate evils and promoting the
ultimate good.

I still believe that America is the last, best hope of Earth. We
just have to show the world why this is so. The President may
occupy the White House, but for the last six years the position of
leader of the free world has remained open. And it’s time to fill
that role once more.

I believe that the single most important job of any President is to
protect the American people. And I am equally convinced that
doing that job effectively in the 21st century will require a new
vision of American leadership and a new conception of our
national security – a vision that draws from the lessons of the
past, but is not bound by outdated thinking.

In today’s globalized world, the security of the American people
is inextricably linked to the security of all people. When narco-
trafficking and corruption threaten democracy in Latin America,
it’s America’s problem too. When poor villagers in Indonesia
have no choice but to send chickens to market infected with
avian flu, it cannot be seen as a distant concern. When religious
schools in Pakistan teach hatred to young children, our children
are threatened as well.

Whether it’s global terrorism or pandemic disease, dramatic
climate change or the proliferation of weapons of mass
annihilation, the threats we face at the dawn of the 21st century
can no longer be contained by borders and boundaries.

The horrific attacks on the clear September day awakened us to
this new reality. And after 9/11, millions around the world were
ready to stand with us. They were willing to rally to our cause
because it was their cause too – because they knew that if
America led the world toward a new era of global cooperation,
it would advance the security of people in our nation and all
nations.

We now know how badly the Administration squandered that
opportunity. In 2002, I stated my opposition to the war in Iraq,
not only because it was an unnecessary diversion from the
struggle against the terrorists who attacked us on September 11th,
but also because it was based on a fundamental misunderstanding
of the threats that 9/11 brought to light. I believed then, and
believe now, that it was based on old ideologies and outdated
strategies – a determination to fight a 21st century struggle with a
20th century mindset.

There is no doubt that the mistakes of the past six years have
made our current task more difficult. World opinion has turned
against us. And after all the lives lost and the billions of dollars
spent, many Americans may find it tempting to turn inward, and
cede our claim of leadership in world affairs.

I insist, however, that such an abandonment of our leadership is a
mistake we must not make. America cannot meet the threats of
this century alone, but the world cannot meet them without
America. We must neither retreat from the world nor try to bully
it into submission – we must lead the world, by deed and
example.

We must lead by building a 21st century military to ensure the
security of our people and advance the security of all people. We
must lead by marshaling a global effort to stop the spread of the
world’s most dangerous weapons. We must lead by building and
strengthening the partnerships and alliances necessary to meet
our common challenges and defeat our common threats.

And America must lead by reaching out to all those living
disconnected lives of despair in the world’s forgotten corners –
because while there will always be those who succumb to hate
and strap bombs to their bodies, there are millions more who
want to take another path – who want our beacon of hope to
shine its light their way.

This election offers us the chance to turn the page and open a
new chapter in American leadership. The disappointment that so
many around the world feel toward America right now is only a
testament to the high expectations they hold for us. We must
meet those expectations again, not because being respected is an
end in itself, but because the security of America and the wider
world demands it.

---

No President should ever hesitate to use force – unilaterally if
necessary – to protect ourselves and our vital interests when we
are attacked or imminently threatened. But when we use force in
situations other than self-defense, we should make every effort to
garner the clear support and participation of others – the kind of
burden-sharing and support President George H.W. Bush
mustered before he launched Operation Desert Storm .

(America must also lead) by marshaling a global effort to meet a
threat that rises above all others in urgency – securing,
destroying, and stopping the spread of weapons of mass
destruction.

As leaders from Henry Kissinger to George Schultz to Bill Perry
to Sam Nunn have all warned, the actions we are taking today on
this issue are simply not adequate to the danger.

There are still about 50 tons of highly enriched uranium – some
of it poorly secured – at civilian nuclear facilities in over forty
countries around the world. In the former Soviet Union, there
are still about 15,000 to 16,000 nuclear weapons and stockpiles
of uranium and plutonium capable of making another 40,000
weapons scattered across 11 time zones. And people have
already been caught trying to smuggle nuclear materials to sell
them on the black market.

We can do something about this. As President, I will lead a
global effort to secure all nuclear weapons and material at
vulnerable sites within four years – the most effective way to
prevent terrorists from acquiring a bomb.

We know that Russia is neither our enemy nor close ally right
now, and we shouldn’t shy away from pushing for more
democracy, transparency, and accountability in that country. But
we also know that we can and must work with Russia to make
sure every one of its nuclear weapons and every cache of nuclear
material is secured. And we should fully implement the law I
passed with Senator Dick Lugar that would help the United
States and our allies detect and stop the smuggling of weapons of
mass destruction throughout the world.

While we work to secure existing stockpiles of nuclear material,
we should also negotiate a verifiable global ban on the
production of new nuclear weapons material.

As starting points, the world must prevent Iran from acquiring
nuclear weapons and work to eliminate North Korea’s nuclear
weapons program. If America does not lead, these two nations
could trigger regional arms races that could accelerate nuclear
proliferation on a global scale and create dangerous nuclear
flashpoints. In pursuit of this goal, we must never take the
military option off the table. But our first line of offense here
must be sustained, direct and aggressive diplomacy. For North
Korea, that means ensuring the full implementation of the recent
agreement. For Iran, it means getting the UN Security Council,
Europe, and the Gulf States to join with us in ratcheting up the
economic pressure.

---

(In strengthening NATO), we should (seek) to build new
alliances and relationships in other regions important to our
interests in the 21st century. In Asia, the emergence of an
economically vibrant, more politically active China offers new
opportunities for prosperity and cooperation, but also poses new
challenges for the United States and our partners in the region. It
is time for the United States to take a more active role here – to
build on our strong bilateral relations and informal arrangements
like the Six Party talks. As President, I intend to forge a more
effective regional framework in Asia that will promote stability,
prosperity and help us confront common transnational threats
such as tracking down terrorists and responding to global health
problems like avian flu.

---

I know that many Americans are skeptical about the value of
foreign aid today. But as the U.S. military made clear in Camp
Lemonier, a relatively small investment in these fragile states up
front can be one of the most effective ways to prevent the terror
and strife that is far more costly – both in lives and treasure –
down the road. In this way, $50 billion a year in foreign aid –
which is less than one-half of one percent of our GDP – doesn’t
sound as costly when you consider that last year, the Pentagon
spent nearly double that amount in Iraq alone.

Finally, while America can help others build more secure
societies, we must never forget that only the citizens of these
nations can sustain them. The corruption I heard about while
visiting parts of Africa has been around for decades, but the
hunger to eliminate such corruption is a growing and powerful
force among people there. And so in these places where fear and
want still thrive, we must couple our aid with an insistent call for
reform.

We must do so not in the spirit of a patron, but the spirit of a
partner – a partner that is mindful of its own imperfections.
Extending an outstretched hand to these states must ultimately be
more than just a matter of expedience or even clarity. It must be
about recognizing the inherent equality and worth of all people.
And it’s about showing the world that America stands for
something – that we can still lead.

These are the ways we will answer the challenge that arrived on
our shores that September morning more than five years ago. A
21st century military to stay on the offense, from Djibouti to
Kandahar. Global efforts to keep the world’s deadliest weapons
out of the world’s most dangerous hands. Stronger alliances to
share information, pool resources, and break up terrorist
networks that operate in more than eighty countries. And a
stronger push to defeat the terrorists’ message of hate with an
agenda for hope around the world.

It’s time we had a President who can do this again – who can
speak directly to the world, and send a message to all those men
and women beyond our shores who long for lives of dignity and
security that says “You matter to us. Your future is our future.
And our moment is now.”

It’s time, as well, for a President who can build a consensus at
home for this ambitious but necessary course. For in the end, no
foreign policy can succeed unless the American people
understand it and feel a stake in its success – and unless they
trust that their government hears their more immediate concerns
as well. After all, we will not be able to increase aid if we fail to
invest in security and opportunity for our own people. We
cannot negotiate trade agreements to help spur development in
poor countries so long as we provide no meaningful help to
working Americans burdened by the dislocations of a global
economy. We cannot expect Americans to support placing our
men and women in harm’s way if we cannot prove that we will
use force wisely and judiciously .

America is the country that helped liberate a continent from the
march of a madman. We are the country that told the brave
people of a divided city that we were Berliners too. We sent
generations of young people to serve as ambassadors for peace in
countries all over the world. And we’re the country that rushed
aid throughout Asia for the victims of a devastating tsunami.

Now it’s our moment to lead – our generation’s time to tell
another great American story. So someday we can tell our
children that this was the time when we helped forge peace in the
Middle East. That this was the time when we confronted climate
change and secured the weapons that could destroy the human
race. This was the time when we brought opportunity to those
forgotten corners of the world. And this was the time when we
renewed the America that has led generations of weary travelers
from all over the world to find opportunity, and liberty, and hope
on our doorstep.

One of these travelers was my father. I barely knew him, but
when, after his death, I finally took my first trip to his tiny
village in Kenya and asked my grandmother if there was
anything left from him, she opened a trunk and took out a stack
of letters, which she handed to me.

There were more than thirty of them, all handwritten by my
father, all addressed to colleges and universities across America,
all filled with the hope of a young man who dreamed of more for
his life.

It is because someone in this country answered that prayer that I
stand before you today with faith in our future, confidence in our
story, and a determination to do my part in writing our country’s
next great chapter.

The American moment has not passed. The American moment is
here. And like generations before us, we will seize that moment,
and begin the world anew.

---

Hott Spotts will return next week.

Brian Trumbore