There are many reasons to elect both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney
for the highest office in the land, but one firm reason to elect Obama for four
more years as commander in chief is that as far as foreign policy is concerned,
he has been close to flawless. While we haven’t seen much of mitt Romney abroad,
however, the little cameo of his foreign policy tour gave pause for thought as
he insulted allies by breaking “the golden rule of state visits and general
etiquette when in home of others: do not, at all costs, insult the host” [1].
This is not to say that Mitt Romney is fit for office due to
a couple of blunders in the press as many politicians have made the same
mistakes, but in the international context defined by its quick pace and a
perpetual state of flux, Mistakes like this among less friendly company can
lead to international disputes.
Romney got a little taste of this when he foolishly compared Israel’s economic development
with Palestine’s and concluded that Israel economic dominance was down to ‘cultural’
superiority (completely overlooking decades of conflict) while controversially
calling Jerusalem “the capital of Israel”, a major stick in the crawl of past
negotiations between Israel and Palestine
leaders[2]. Palestinians
response to Romney’s comments were scathing to say the least with a senior Palestinian
official describing Romney’s comments as “a racist statement” and openly
questioned Romney’s ‘knowledge’ of the “region and its people”[3].
While Romney was talking at a fundraising event, it reveals certain
ignorance from Romney for not expecting the eventuality of his comments to
reach the wider public as when a potential president speaks; the world pays
attention due the United States having it fingers in so many pies. Mitt Romney
doesn’t help own case as his views on Russia
threaten to set US-Russia relations back four years by recognising Russia as a
major “geopolitical foe”[4].
The Obama administration have done some great work in thawing
relations between the US and Russia with
regards to nuclear counter-proliferation which, with a Romney presidency, would become
frosty with some haste due to republicans favouring a missile defence shield in
Europe, a policy strongly opposed by former
and current Russian president Vladimir Putin[5].
In sum, while Mitt Romney mistakes abroad are not going to
harm him considering the bigger picture, it does reveals a truth that every
country but the US is prepared to admit, a U.S. president amenable to
negotiation is much better than a U.S president who isn’t.
[1] The
carnage report, 2012, Mitt Romney negative favourable: no surprise, http://thecarnagereport.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/opinion-mitt-romney-negative.html
[2]
Quoted by H. Sherwood, 2012, Mitt Romney ‘providence’ comment in Israel outrage
Palestinians, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/30/mitt-romney-israel-economic-success
[3]
Ibid
[4] R.
T. Buchanan, 2012, Mitt Romney issues ‘inadmissable’ threat to Russia, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/mitt-romney/9512295/Mitt-Romney-issues-inadmissible-threat-to-Russia.html
[5] J.
Marson and L. I. Alpert, 2012, Putting on U.S. vote: Obama ‘Genuine’, Romney ‘Mistaken’, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443589304577635113013597198.html
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