For Obama, world looks far different than expected

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

WASHINGTON (AP) Nearly five years into his presidency, Barack Obama confronts a world far different from what he envisioned when he first took office. U.S. influence is declining in the Middle East as violence and instability rock Arab countries. An ambitious attempt to reset U.S. relations with Russia faltered and failed. Even in Obama-friendly Europe, there's deep skepticism about Washington's government surveillance programs.

In some cases, the current climate has been driven by factors outside the White House's control. But missteps by the president also are to blame, say foreign policy analysts, including some who worked for the Obama administration.

Among them: miscalculating the fallout from the Arab Spring uprisings, publicly setting unrealistic expectations for improved ties with Russia and a reactive decision-making process that can leave the White House appearing to veer from crisis to crisis without a broader strategy.

Rosa Brooks, a former Defense Department official who left the administration in 2011, said that while the shrinking U.S. leverage overseas predates the current president, "Obama has sometimes equated 'we have no leverage' with 'there's no point to really doing anything'."

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Few foreign policy experts predicted the Arab uprisings, and it's unlikely the U.S. could have or should have done anything to prevent the protests. But analysts say Obama misjudged the movements' next stages, including Assad's ability to cling to power and the strength of Islamist political parties in Egypt.

"The president has not had a long-term strategic vision," said Vali Nasr, who advised the Obama administration on foreign policy in the first term and now serves as dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. "They're moving issue to issue and reacting as situations come up."

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Obama has long enjoyed high approval ratings from the European public, though those numbers have slipped in his second term. So has European approval for his administration's international policies.

A Pew Research Center poll conducted this spring, before the NSA programs were revealed, showed that support for Obama's international policies was down in most of the country's surveyed, including a 14 point drop in Britain and a 12 point drop in France.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130825/US-Obama-Foreign-Policy/

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

WASHINGTON (AP) Nearly five years into his presidency, Barack Obama confronts a world far different from what he envisioned when he first took office. U.S. influence is declining in the Middle East as violence and instability rock Arab countries. An ambitious attempt to reset U.S. relations with Russia faltered and failed. Even in Obama-friendly Europe, there's deep skepticism about Washington's government surveillance programs.

In some cases, the current climate has been driven by factors outside the White House's control. But missteps by the president also are to blame, say foreign policy analysts, including some who worked for the Obama administration.

Among them: miscalculating the fallout from the Arab Spring uprisings, publicly setting unrealistic expectations for improved ties with Russia and a reactive decision-making process that can leave the White House appearing to veer from crisis to crisis without a broader strategy.

Rosa Brooks, a former Defense Department official who left the administration in 2011, said that while the shrinking U.S. leverage overseas predates the current president, "Obama has sometimes equated 'we have no leverage' with 'there's no point to really doing anything'."

_______________________

Few foreign policy experts predicted the Arab uprisings, and it's unlikely the U.S. could have or should have done anything to prevent the protests. But analysts say Obama misjudged the movements' next stages, including Assad's ability to cling to power and the strength of Islamist political parties in Egypt.

"The president has not had a long-term strategic vision," said Vali Nasr, who advised the Obama administration on foreign policy in the first term and now serves as dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. "They're moving issue to issue and reacting as situations come up."

_______________________

Obama has long enjoyed high approval ratings from the European public, though those numbers have slipped in his second term. So has European approval for his administration's international policies.

A Pew Research Center poll conducted this spring, before the NSA programs were revealed, showed that support for Obama's international policies was down in most of the country's surveyed, including a 14 point drop in Britain and a 12 point drop in France.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130825/US-Obama-Foreign-Policy/

No don't give it back..It was a joke to begin with.. Nobel prizes are political and have been cheapened to the point they have no credibility..I mean they gave Al Gore and Arafat one,why not Obama.

[lostinblue 1,989]

[Darnell 8,479]

Ya, that fella should return it and resign from office.

Anything else just seems specious.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Presidents usually become lame ducks quickly in their second terms, and losing seats to the opposing party in Congress is the norm. Therefore, Presidents usually realize in their last two years how difficult it would be to push their own agendas domestically, so they often spend those years dealing with foreign issues, looking to create a legacy and a career path once they leave office.

Kerry seems to be taking the lead on some of these issues, the Israel-Palestine problem for one, and restoring good relations with South America for another. On the first one, we seem to be allowing Netanyahu to continue his policy of marginalizing the Palestinian problem by seizing and developing even more Palestinian land for extremist right wing religious settlers, and on the second, we are still waiting for Obama through Kerry to pick a direction, other than just a constant refrain of, "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa."

Edited August 25, 2013 by The Patriot

[Darnell 8,479]

pushing a domestic agenda , after first swearing in, seemed to not have any results, for that fella.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

pushing a domestic agenda , after first swearing in, seemed to not have any results, for that fella.

Obamacare for one, good, or bad, that we will be stuck with for a while. What was exclusively states' domain has been Federalized. "Devolution" is something America has yet to hear.

Gay marriage is now a fact, DOMA has been struck down, and gays are actively serving in the military with benefits.

Those are two legacy items Obama can hang his hat on, and either one would make a notable chapter in the history of the US.

[Darnell 8,479]

Those things were part of Obama's Agenda ? Wow - I've not been paying attention.

[Novembro 1,763]

Who is Obama?

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I think Carter got one for bringing Peace to the Mid-east...Great job Jimmy