The Complete Obama

A pre-State of the Union guide to Barack Obama's favorite foreign-policy themes -- and how they've evolved over time.

BY URI FRIEDMAN | JANUARY 24, 2012

APPROACH TO ADVERSARIES

"To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West, know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

- Inaugural address, 2009

"America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments -- provided they govern with respect for all their people."

- Cairo speech, 2009

"The promotion of human rights cannot be about exhortation alone. At times, it must be coupled with painstaking diplomacy. I know that engagement with repressive regimes lacks the satisfying purity of indignation. But I also know that sanctions without outreach -- condemnation without discussion -- can carry forward only a crippling status quo. No repressive regime can move down a new path unless it has the choice of an open door."

- Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, 2009

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images 

 

Uri Friedman is an associate editor at Foreign Policy.

TIMING

10:09 PM ET

January 23, 2012

failed president

join jimmy carter and go stand in the corner with your oil sheik buddies...

 

JEHUDAH BEN-ISRAEL

12:54 AM ET

January 24, 2012

Arab Israeli conflict and the fundamental that must be addressed

Clearly, in reviewing the development of the Arab Israeli conflict during the past two to three decades, the strategic intent of the Muslim-Arabs, local and regional, has been to veil the international legal underpinning of the questions at hand and the way to resolve them. And, some, overly eager to reach a "solution" to this intractable conflict, opted to be manipulated into the make-belief "new paradigm" created by some Muslim-Arab leaders.

Obviously, the "new paradigm" has been only part of the imagination of those eager to achieve peace, thus it has proven unsustainable and two decades since the Madrid Peace Conference we are still dealing with the same fundamental questions that refuse to disappear.

Thus, why don't we all return to international law, the most objective method of dealing with disputes and conflicts, and set out to bring about an accommodation of peaceful coexistence (if indeed this what we hope to achieve...!!) between Arab and Jew, between the Muslim-Arab world and the nation-state of the Jewish people, Israel. A very good place to start is the following document:

http://www.mythsandfacts.org/Conflict/mandate_for_palestine/MandateN2%20-%2010-29-07-English.pdf

 

DONKISSOTES

9:37 PM ET

January 24, 2012

the views or ideas and the

the views or ideas and the policy pursued by President Obama as seen by its people and other countries is the result. Obama policy on Iran's nuclear North Korea is also the policy carefully. On the other hand the murder of Iranian nuclear experts whether anyone was enumerated by the United States also made a bit of relief, especially if all Iranian and Korean nuclear experts can be killed,,, wowwww the United States no longer has a rival

 

MARTY24

1:12 PM ET

January 25, 2012

JOHNODONOGHUE16 writes: "and

JOHNODONOGHUE16 writes: "and I really did voted for, contributed large amounts of money and time for your election, you have done very little in the agenda you have highlighted over the last 3 years."

Some questions:
1. Are you an American? Even with the current school system, it is hard to believe a native speaker of English would write this way.

2. We have seen no progress in the Middle East because Obama really doesn't understand the dynamics there. He takes advice, not from AIPAC, but from Turkish PM Erdogan, who is turning increasingly Islamist. The Islamist worldview is disconnected from reality, and pursuing goals that are based simply on ideology is a formula for failure, one that Obama has pursued. The notion that Ron Paul has a grasp of reality is equally far-fetched.

3. That Secretary Clinton was even willing to listen to the OIC's case for making discussion of Islam illegal demonstrates who is really in charge in Washington. As a law school graduate, certainly she is aware that the proposal is unconstitutional. That, by itself, should have led her to reject the issue, but instead she endorsed it.

Obama's foreign policy is a direct result of his narcissistic personality. He sees himself in everything he does, and not what is really going on. The sooner he is out of the White House, the better it will be for the rest of the world as well as for America.

 

JAN STUHR

2:30 PM ET

February 21, 2012

The most objective method of

The most objective method of dealing with disputes and conflicts, and set out to bring unibet about an accommodation of peaceful coexistence (if indeed this what we hope to achieve...!!) between Arab and Jew, between the Muslim-Arab world and the nation-state of the Jewish people, Israel. A very good place to start is the following document: