President Obama and Governor Romney Approach to International Relations Issues

Obama & Romney -- Foreign Policy Approaches

If "realist" stands for a person who pursues "security" based on "self-interest," "determinism," and "morality" on the international scene (quotes chosen from Chapter 1); and if "liberal" stands for "capable of cooperating," "cooperation," the impact of "non-governmental groups" (NGOs), "having many interests" and "international society," then President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney both reflect some of each of these traits, albeit Obama leans more toward a liberal, cooperative approach to international relations and Romney stalks a position based more based on power and self-interest and -- although he doesn't spell it out in specifics -- he embraces the concept of American exceptionalism (that is, the U.S. has the moral role of providing leadership for the world because American values are on a higher plane than other values). This paper reviews and critiques positions each candidate has taken on foreign policy issues, referencing the concepts of realist and liberal within the context of their various positions.

Romney's "realism" attacks on Obama

The Republican candidate has recently blamed Obama for the uprisings and revolutions in the Arab states, referred to as the "Arab Spring." The New York Times reports on Romney's attack, explaining that Romney claims Obama could have "headed them off by pressing the region's autocrats to reform first" (Baker, 2012). Romney attacked Obama in July, 2012, saying that the president "…abandoned the freedom agenda," which was in reference to President George W. Bush's policies (which Obama attacked repeatedly during the 2008 primary and presidential campaigns, and which Obama was not expected to adopt).

Baker referred to a recent Romney foreign policy speech (before the Veterans of Foreign Wars) as one that was full of "incendiary flourishes." One of those flourishes clearly establishes Romney's "realist" -- hard line -- position in the campaign; "If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on earth, I am not your president," Romney asserted, using a double negative to cast a shadow over Obama's leadership. "You have that president today," he concluded (Baker, p. 2). Romney went on to suggest that Obama is weak on Iran's plan to build a nuclear bomb, saying (through one of his campaign surrogates, Richard Williamson (a former envoy under George W. Bush) that "…No one in Tehran or in the region feels that the Obama Administration will use force…There is no credible threat of force…" from the White House, Williamson charged. This too is an example of Romney taking a hard line on a security issue (realism).

However, the rhetoric on Iran may be nothing more than campaign oratory designed to make Romney appear to be a strong realist on foreign policy. A former undersecretary for defense under Obama, Michele Flournoy, responded to Romney's assertions by saying that military planning under the Obama Administration for an attack on Iran is "incredibly robust" and that a strike against the nuclear facilities in Iran was "a real possibility" (Baker, p. 3). "It's ready," Flournoy stated, "It's there as an option" (Baker, p. 3

In his speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Romney asserted that "…we are seeing today a whirlwind of tumult in the Middle East in part because these nations did not embrace the reforms that could have changed the course of their history in a more peaceful manner" (Baker, p. 1).

On the face of it, that last sentence attributed to Romney, while it is clearly political rhetoric, is nonetheless absurd. Could any American president successfully have coaxed these Arab dictators to change their approach to governing, simply because they had not been governing with democratic principle? Would these dictators, Mubarak in Egypt and Kaddafi in Libya, and the others (including Assad in Syria) have bent over backwards to please the U.S. -- in effect acknowledging American exceptionalism? It is highly unlikely (and even impossible) that the dictators in Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen -- among several others -- would suddenly change policies in the direction of democracy just because an American president asks them to.

Journalist Michael Crowley writes in Time magazine that what Romney was doing when he launched those attacks was not really seriously questioning Obama's stewardship in the Middle East but in fact he was making an effort "…to make headlines about national security leaks" (Crowley, 2012, p. 2). Romney actually made only vague proposals as to what he would do in terms of Middle Eastern diplomacy (which was to support Syrian rebels "who share our values"), and his points were based on "…rhetorical swagger and affirmations of American greatness and determination" (Crowley, p. 2). Romney's self-interest is in play here; he wants to deflect criticism of his lack of foreign policy experience by simply attacking the president. In other words, rather laying out his own strategies, it is easier for a man with virtually no foreign policy experience to pick away at the current president.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy explains that realists tend to believe "...the principal actors in the international area to be states, which are concerned with their own security, act in pursuit of their own national interests, and struggle for power" (SEP, 2010). Realists tend to be skeptical about the possibility of "ethical norms" in states, in fact they believe that the international politics "…is a sphere without justice, characterized by active or potential conflict among states" (SEP, p. 1). When Romney claimed that Obama had made "…deep and arbitrary cuts to our national defense that would devastate our military," he was either ill-informed or simply reaching out for something to attack as a sign of his realistic approach.

That is because the cuts to the military budget were not Obama's ideas; Crowley points out that there were automatic Pentagon spending cuts as part of "…last year's budget sequestration deal between Obama and Congress." Blaming Obama without mentioning that Congress signed off on the cuts to military spending "…is highly unfair," and to call those cuts "…deep and arbitrary" is, Crowley concludes, "a real stretch" (Crowley, p. 2). But the larger point here is that Romney needs to sound tough and present the case that he (as president) would take a hard line against all perceived enemies of the United States (a realism trait to be sure).

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy points out that realists are defined as having a "set of premises" vis-a-vis state actors that embrace "…egoism, anarchy, power, security, and morality" (SEP, p. 4). Realists are "generally skeptical about the relevance of morality to international politics," which leads them to believe "successful political action" is necessary to increase the military power of their own country and limit other countries from having similar strengths (SEP).

Baker points out that Romney has labeled Russia "…our No. 1 geopolitical foe" and referred to Obama's interactions with Russian leaders "a failure." In fact, notwithstanding Romney's promise to "challenge Mr. Putin's authoritarianism" the Obama Administration has shown international cooperative efforts toward Russia that have been manifested in progress toward improved relations. This places Obama firmly into the liberal camp because Obama has successfully negotiated an arms reduction treaty with Russia.

When Obama and then Russian president Dmitri Medvedev "put aside the tensions of recent years to seal the New Start pact paring back their nuclear arsenals, which prevents both the U.S. And Russia from "…deploying more than 1,550 strategic warheads or 700 launchers," Medvedev said he and Obama had developed "…a very good personal relationship and a very good personal chemistry" (Baker, et al., 2010, p. 2). Obama called the Russian president "a friend and partner" and he said the new treaty was "a truly historic event" that would "…open a new page" in the relations between the two countries. Hence, by attacking Obama Romney shows he would be a hard-liner regarding foreign relations, in other words, a realist.

By choosing former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, to be an advisor on international relations, Romney clearly indicated what kind of foreign policy he would embrace -- a very hard line realist position. Time magazine journalist Joe Klein calls Bolton a "congenitally bellicose and warmongering" adviser. Bolton was so hawkish and controversial during the George W. Bush era the Senate wouldn't confirm him as UN ambassador -- so Bush made the appointment when the Congress was in recess.

Bloggers Zack Beauchamp and Ali Gharib point out the hard-liners (realists) that Romney has gathered together as foreign policy advisors, and the list clearly indicates the realist approach to international relations the Republican candidate has taken. Besides Bolton, Romney has enlisted Eliot Cohen (who makes the case for war with Iran), Cofer Black (former Blackwater vice chair who advocates for the use of torture), Michael Hayden (helped cover up the Bush-era torture), among several others tied to aggressive policies in foreign affairs.

Graham Allison writes in the peer-reviewed journal Foreign Affairs that Romney's assertion that "…on day one of my presidency I will designate [China] a currency manipulator and take appropriate counteraction" has received a "…nearly unanimous rejection" as "reckless rhetoric that risks a catastrophic trade war" (Allison, 2012, p. 5). That is another example of Romney's realist approach in which the notion of economic security (a worthy issue) turns into unnecessary belligerence, all for the sake of attempting to gain traction in a tight presidential race.

Obama's Liberalism -- Cooperation and stronger International Ties

On the issue of the U.S. And Russian cooperation under Obama, the current president has worked out agreements that show continuing collaboration on space programs. Currently working in the International Space Station are three Russians (Colonel Yuri Malenchenko, Evgeny Tarelkin, and cosmonaut Olge Novitskly), Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and two American astronauts, Kevin Ford and Sunita Williams (who is flight commander). Obama has also has worked with the Russians on developing counterterrorism tactics (to protect against radical Islamic militants) and Obama negotiated an arrangement with Russia to allow a supply route through Russia for NATO and U.S. military needs while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan (Baker, p. 2).

Romney visited Poland earlier in 2012 and his intention, according to Baker's piece in the Times, was to highlight Obama's "…sudden abandonment of friends in Poland." Baker writes that while Romney accused Obama of cancelling the missile defense program -- accusing Obama of giving in to Russian pressure -- but in fact Obama did not cancel the program. "He substituted a reconfigured system devised by Mr. Bush's last defense secretary," Baker explains. Obama can wear the label of a liberal, cooperative president, because he has been willing to reach out to allies and to those countries like Russia that are interested in international stability.

Writing in Foreign Affairs, Graham Allison (referenced earlier in this paper) notes that in Obama's first year as president he found a lack of total cooperation within his national security team, and some of his plans vis-a-vis Afghanistan were "playing out in public" (Allison p. 6). So Obama quietly revised his approach to allow "…a much more tightly controlled flow of information" which led to a "narrowing of the inner decision-making circle" and far more executive cooperation between department, Allison continues. "This allowed discussions over how to handle the discovery of Osama bin Laden's whereabouts to play out slowly and sensibly…until the administration itself revealed it after the raid on bin Laden's Abbottabad compound" (Allison, 6). Quiet, intelligent and cooperative organizing within the executive branch (rather than making publicly announced changes that would show Obama's hand to U.S. enemies) can be considered a policy of liberalism within the executive branch.

Meanwhile, according to a peer-reviewed piece in the journal Policy Review, Obama has shown the true colors of liberalism because "…The centerpiece of Obama's overall foreign policy strategy is the concept of accommodation" (Dueck, 2011, p. 14). Obama believes that "…genuine and overarching international cooperation is possible, if apparent adversaries can learn to listen to and accommodate one another" (Dueck, 15). The style Obama has shown as president s to reach out and "…make some initial concession or accommodation, in the expectation of reciprocal concession," Dueck explains (16). The president's expectation is one of "…progressive agreement, reduced conflict, and increased cooperation internationally, based on mutual accommodation, and sparked by American example" (Dueck, 16).