Foreign policy
| roles in major urban areas and violence has increased. Obama is fixated on withdrawal, rather than on the stability of Iraq. This type of a policy will have grave consequences for us, Iraq and the Middle East as well. After making a promise to win the war in Afghanistan (whatever that meant), the Obama administration just wants to get out. The path we take in Afghanistan will also have consequences in Pakistan and India. Actions (or lack of action) in both Iraq and Afghanistan will also affect our standing in the world. More broadly, the Obama administration believes that the previous administration did not negotiate enough on issues like nuclear proliferation and weapons of mass destruction. The president has repeatedly said that the United States must hold out its hand to countries like North Korea and Iran in the hope that they will unclench their fists and enter into negotiation. This ignores history because the Bush administration negotiated directly or indirectly with Iran and North Korea for six-and-a-half years. The administration misunderstands the role of negotiations. Negotiation is a technique used to achieve our objectives, not an end in itself. The administration’s view on negotiation reflects a shallow approach to foreign affairs and our interests will be sacrificed on the altar of endless negotiations. We live in challenging times and decisions made today will affect our children and grandchildren. This administration is ignoring history and its approach to foreign affairs will make the world more dangerous for all of us. |
John Pinto's column
By John Pinto
How do you feel about America and America’s role in the world? While many people of Asian descent are
first generation immigrants, our children and grandchildren are native-born Americans. It is possible that
their views might differ from those of their parents and grandparents.
The Obama administration’s foreign policy seems to have turned away from the view that America is an
exceptional nation and has a unique mission in the world. Barack Obama is our first post-American
president. Here is the response he gave, in Europe, to a question about his unwillingness to discuss
American exceptionalism. The president said he believes in American exceptionalism, the same way that
the British believe in British exceptionalism and Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. By extension, we
can conclude from his answer that all countries believe that they are exceptional and that America is not a
special place and is no different from other countries. Evan Thomas, the editor of Newsweek Magazine
summed it up when he wrote “Obama’s standing above the country, above the world. He’s sort of God.”
This view should alarm you. It assumes that America’s interests are not superior to Sudan’s or Cuba’s or
those of any other country. This view can be described as neoisolationist. It is a view characterized by an
unwillingness to defend America’s interests. Consider the Obama administration’s policy regarding Iraq. It
wants to withdraw American forces along the lines formulated at the end of the Bush administration, but
without any regard to the actual situation in Iraq. American forces have pulled back from their prominent
How do you feel about America and America’s role in the world? While many people of Asian descent are
first generation immigrants, our children and grandchildren are native-born Americans. It is possible that
their views might differ from those of their parents and grandparents.
The Obama administration’s foreign policy seems to have turned away from the view that America is an
exceptional nation and has a unique mission in the world. Barack Obama is our first post-American
president. Here is the response he gave, in Europe, to a question about his unwillingness to discuss
American exceptionalism. The president said he believes in American exceptionalism, the same way that
the British believe in British exceptionalism and Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. By extension, we
can conclude from his answer that all countries believe that they are exceptional and that America is not a
special place and is no different from other countries. Evan Thomas, the editor of Newsweek Magazine
summed it up when he wrote “Obama’s standing above the country, above the world. He’s sort of God.”
This view should alarm you. It assumes that America’s interests are not superior to Sudan’s or Cuba’s or
those of any other country. This view can be described as neoisolationist. It is a view characterized by an
unwillingness to defend America’s interests. Consider the Obama administration’s policy regarding Iraq. It
wants to withdraw American forces along the lines formulated at the end of the Bush administration, but
without any regard to the actual situation in Iraq. American forces have pulled back from their prominent