Big foreign policy challenges await Obama
Wed Nov 5, 2008 12:15am EST
By Caren Bohan
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Newly-elected U.S. president Barack Obama will face a
daunting array of foreign policy challenges, from wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq and the global financial crisis to the need to shore up the country's
frayed international image.
While taxes, health care and the economy all played a role in the campaign
before Tuesday's vote, national security issues such as the Iranian nuclear
standoff and Middle East peace are likely to remain near the top of the
agenda when Obama takes office from President George W. Bush on Jan 20.
"The mantra for the next administration has to be, 'Be careful what you wish
for because you just might get it,'" said James Lindsay, who was a foreign
policy aide to President Bill Clinton and is now with the University of
Texas, Austin.
"The new president-elect is going to have a full foreign policy inbox and
decisions to make with enormous consequences for American security," added
Lindsay.
Foreign policy advisers say Obama, a Democrat who will become the first black
U.S. president, has an understanding of world affairs rooted in a childhood
spent partly in Indonesia and a quest to learn about his father's Kenyan
heritage.
The Illinois senator, 47, will face pressing concerns even before he takes
over from Bush, a Republican.
On November 15, Bush will convene a summit in Washington to look at the
global economic crisis. While Obama is unlikely to attend the meeting
himself, it could give his economic team the chance to meet some of the
visiting foreign officials on the sidelines of the conference.
The Obama administration will also inherit the Iraq and Afghan wars and an
intensifying effort to pursue al Qaeda militants on Pakistan's border with
Afghanistan.
Stopping Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon -- Tehran says its nuclear
program is purely for civilian purposes -- and holding North Korea to its
promise to dismantle its nuclear weapons program are also pressing issues.
FAMILIAR NAMES, NEW APPROACHES
Obama has a number of foreign policy advisers with roots in the Clinton
administration, although he has also said he could work with Republicans.
Republican Senator Chuck Hagel and Democratic Senator John Kerry are two
names frequently mentioned as candidates for secretary of state.
Obama, like his defeated Republican rival John McCain, has vowed a
reinvigorated effort toward Middle East peace and promised staunch support
for Israel.
Obama foreign policy adviser Mark Lippert said fighting terrorism, dealing
with militants along the Afghan-Pakistan border and killing or capturing
Osama bin Laden are top national security priorities.
Obama has pledged to end the Iraq war and bolster the U.S. troop presence in
Afghanistan.
The ability to tackle deteriorating security in Afghanistan and pursue
militants is "linked to the ability to make progress on political
reconciliation in Iraq and the ability to draw down there," Lippert said.
McCain agreed on the need for more forces in Afghanistan, but opposed a
timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, saying U.S. troops should remain there as
long as they are needed.
Obama's willingness to talk directly to U.S. adversaries such as Iran and
Syria was another major point of disagreement during the campaign. Obama said
the Bush administration's resistance to engaging foes has limited its
diplomatic options, a position which the McCain camp called naive.
Obama opposed calls to oust Russia from the elite Group of Eight club of rich
nations in response to Moscow's August war with Georgia, although he
condemned the Russian invasion, triggered by Georgia's bid to reimpose
control over breakaway South Ossetia.
One foreign policy priority Obama is likely to concentrate on is repairing
ties with traditional allies, including many European countries, that were
strained under the Bush administration.
Some analysts believe Obama's huge popularity abroad could give him an
initial advantage, although it will not be a panacea for challenges such as
persuading Europe to contribute more troops in Afghanistan.
(Editing by Andrew Quinn and Frances Kerry)
c Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE4A42R020081105?sp=true
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