An image that should cause alarm for everyoneYeah, things at home are far from peachy, but affairs overseas aren't much better. Former ambassador to the UN John Bolton discusses the recent flare up with Israel and rapprochement with Russia.
From The Daily Beast:
What should Americans make of this behavior: When blindsided by an ally [Israel], the Obama administration reacts with fury, but when slapped by a “peer competitor” [Russia] (to put it diplomatically), Obama’s team smiles benignly?
Even more importantly, what do our foreign friends and adversaries think of this juxtaposition? How does the rest of the world read President Obama, and what do their assessments imply for U.S. foreign policy in the coming, and potentially very turbulent, years?
The obvious point, no less telling for being obvious, is that the president has a peculiar set of priorities for dealing with friends and adversaries. Obama, however, clearly believes that such conduct, strange as it is to Americans, shows to the world his administration’s even-handedness, which will in turn strengthen his subsequent diplomatic leverage in a range of international crises.
But Obama is flatly wrong. Publicly criticizing allies and stroking opponents will produce precisely the opposite result: appalling the former and encouraging the latter. If Obama persists, our global position will rapidly deteriorate as friends distance themselves for their own self-protection and adversaries grow more adventuresome. If this and other recent behavior is what Obama and Clinton mean by “smart power,” we can readily conclude that they don’t understand either word in their slogan.
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