Obama’s Murky Foreign Policy

Obama’s Murky Foreign Policy

Jessica Tuchman Mathews Wednesday, July 3, 2013 | http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=52280&lang=en

Half a year into President Barack Obama’s last four, it is still too soon to predict what his foreign policy legacy will be.
In Washington, a seemingly unending series of fake scandals (Benghazi), leaks (most recently the Snowden revelations), and diversions (sexual abuse in the military) has devoured senior officials’ time. Meanwhile, round two of the budget and debt-ceiling crisis looms largely unattended.
The National Security Council is about to change hands, and critical subcabinet appointments, especially at the State Department, have not been made.
What was touted in January as a foreign policy team of seasoned former senators—Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel—who would see eye to eye by virtue of similar backgrounds and temperaments, is no longer so clear. This White House has tightly held the reins of foreign policy, so the replacement of National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, a cautious, behind-the-scenes realpolitik player, by the far more activist “liberal hawk” Susan Rice, signals real change. Samantha Power as ambassador to the UN will reinforce Rice on most issues.