I'll start on Foreign Policy, since it's my strongest interest.
If anyone was watching the debates, it was a joke. Come on, McCain's and Obama's foreign policy ideas aren't really much different. I really liked during the 2nd Prez debate, Obama said,"The War on Terror began in Afghanistan and it will end there." Oh please, that was just on par with McCain's past, "We will be Iraq for 100 years." comment. They both support Israel, so general Middle Eastern policy in general changing is going to be moot.
Yes, of course, Iraq is going to have a conclusion in the next 4 years. But here's a newsflash on Iraq, America ain't leaving. Why? Because we meddled with it, the strategic dangers of an unstable Iraq increase 100 fold or more. So instead of being the short-sighted majority the rest of the nation is on being sooooooooooo focused on 'withdrawing'. I can assure you, Iraq will be unstable if we leave, their government is weak anyhow. If Obama wants to win in '12, he'll have to fulfill his promise at the cost of Middle Eastern stability. As for McCain, we'll be there until the Iraqis demand us to leave on public TV.
Iraq definitely need to be a done deal before end of 2009 or 2010 if the next occupant of the White House values another 4 years in office.
Then onto Afghanistan... here, they nearly agreed point-to-point here. Pakistan is going to be continued to be pissed at us... a war with them is a possibility, but a way outside chance. We'll definitely see the money spent in this theater of operations increase a lot by either the Obama or McCain Administration. No real difference here.
About Iran, Russia, Europe and other areas of American foreign interests, Obama will probably be more into diplomatic talks than McCain. But that is hardly a positive check on my list for Obama. Being more diplomatic, is a good thing in general, but then the flip side is you get stuff like Neville Chamberlain and 1939 debacles about, "We have peace in our time." The key here is can he spot a bluff when he sees one?
In conclusion, the biggest overlook by both of them, yes, is a major foreign policy shift. Don't expect one ladies and gentlemen. Yes, we'll see changes in Iraq and Afghanistan... but everyone is missing why such events exist today. I will say, check your history, check your history. More diplomacy is expected also, but don't hope on anything else.
During the past 7 years, while we've been so busy fighting two wars, the rest of the world has watched our military get stretched... and what do the bad guys do in the meantime, expand secretly. Expect some dangerous stuff coming from Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and China between now and 2020.
A suggested foreign move would continue a somewhat course of 'strong-arm' foreign policy since the actual sharks got bigger instead an 'coalition-allies build up' foreign policy. This is a suggestion in light of foreign power-plays across the globe and a long-term situations across the globe for the next 20 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment