An Obama "doctrine"?
Daniel Drezner asks if there is an Obama doctrine. I don't much like the idea of claiming a doctrine this early on, but I do think he offers an interesting appraisal of Obama's current strategy:
Looking at what Obama has done to date, I'd suggest that his foreign policy doctrine comes by way of Montesquieu -- crudely put, useless conflicts weaken necessary conflicts.
To elaborate: the United States suffers from an overextension of its foreign policy obligations. With a weakened economy and a drop in U.S. standing, it is both costly and fruitless for the administration to continue policy conflicts that yield little beyond pleasing those invested in the policy status quo.
That last point about the status quo hits the nail on the head. Critics of Obama's Latin America policy argue that things should not change, but literally never explain how not changing is going to further U.S. policy goals. Indeed, how many people really go on the assumption that our policies have been working well?
2 comments:
The Future of Relations in the Western Hemisphere
The USA and Latin America
There are many polls that show that Obama is very much liked and appreciated in Latin America. Latin Americans are not fools, they prefer a Noble and Kind Nation in the North that is the Greatest Power in these days.
Obama is a very powerful symbol in America and south of the border.
Someone said that the sole presence in the White House of a family that descends very clearly from Black People is a Revolution. Obama is per se a Revolution, of the Human Heart, of Kindness, of overcoming prejudice. And speaks well of the American Electorate.
I have always predicted that Obama will be a Great President, that he will solve the Economic Crisis, etc ... even if things are not easy.
I think that is the feeling in Latin America, and not only in the educated classes.
Another prediction : Those Latino nations that are friendly to the USA and that struggle for more trade with the USA ( even against Ms Pelosi and the AFL-CIO ) will have more economic progress than others.
That means that Mexico, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Panama, and Central America ( excluding Nicaragua ) will see more economic progress than Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Ecuador.
Oil is not always a blessing but can be a curse, as we see in the Middle East.
The force that drives Chavez and Ortega is the same that drives the worst racists in the USA : Revenge, Resentment against their lot in life, Envy, Inferiority Complexes, Inadequacies, coming from autoritarian or dysfunctional families.
Chavez and Ortega are mirror images of the worst Racists inside the USA.
Someone could be a "socialit" without so much hate, fury, anger, envy, hatred and venom.
More about the relations of the USA in the Western Hemisphere, including Immigration and Foreign Policies, here :
Milenials.com
Vicente Duque
I figure you'd like this op-ed, Greg.
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