by CKR
Updated here. Additionally, I have abstracted the statements of Richardson, Edwards, and Giuliani and have added a few more comments.
The July/August issue of Foreign Affairs contains articles by Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The magazine says that in its series “Campaign 2008,” it will present a series of essays by “top presidential candidates.”
All last week, the commentariat observed that foreign policy is a central part of this campaign, for both parties. I’m sure it’s a big part of the campaign for WhirledView’s readers. So let me try to summarize the main points of both articles. They’re both pretty wordy and stuffed with campaign-speak. What I want to do is to try to get to the substance. I’ll be glad to entertain comments from the campaigns if they think I’ve got something wrong.
I’m not trying to make a cheat-sheet, Cliff’s Notes for the two articles. I do think, however, that getting down to the bare bones of what is said in them is useful in comparing the candidates. I urge you to read the articles themselves; they contain the candidates’ perception of the problems and more that you can use to judge the candidates.
I have, in many cases, used the words of the essays, but I have truncated sentences so that I will not use quotation marks or indented quotes unless I am using significant portions of the essays.
Just two comments: I found this misleading in Obama’s essay:
As George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger, and Sam Nunn have warned, our current measures are not sufficient to meet the nuclear threat.He seems to be referring to an op-ed written by those men in the January 4, 2007 Wall Street Journal. But they were advocating eliminating nuclear weapons, and Obama’s recommendations fall far short of that.
It was much easier to work through Obama’s essay than Romney’s. This may be because of my inclinations on the subject matter, but I think it is more a matter that Romney spent much more time excoriating the weaknesses of the past (particularly, but not exclusively, under Democratic presidents) than providing his recommendations for the future.
Obama : Renewing American Leadership
Summary: After Iraq, we may be tempted to turn inward. That would be a mistake. The American moment is not over, but it must be seized anew. We must bring the war to a responsible end and then renew our leadership—military, diplomatic, moral—to confront new threats and capitalize on new opportunities. America cannot meet this century's challenges alone; the world cannot meet them without America.
Fundamental insight
The security and well-being of each and every American depend on the security and well-being of those who live beyond our borders. The mission of the United States is to provide global leadership grounded in the understanding that the world shares a common security and a common humanity.
Threats
• Weapons that can kill on a mass scale
• Global terrorists who respond to alienation or perceived injustice with murderous nihilism
• Rogue states allied to terrorists
• Rising powers that could challenge both America and the international foundation of liberal democracy
• Weak states that cannot control their territory or provide for their people
• A warming planet that will spur new diseases, spawn more devastating natural disasters, and catalyze deadly conflicts
Bringing the Iraq war to a responsible end
• Bring the war to an end and refocus our attention on the broader Middle East.
• Pressure the warring parties to find a political solution by beginning a phased withdrawal of U.S. forces, with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008—a date consistent with the goal set by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.
• Launch a comprehensive regional and international diplomatic initiative to help broker an end to the civil war in Iraq, prevent its spread, and limit the suffering of the Iraqi people.
• Make clear that we seek no permanent bases in Iraq.
• Leave behind only a minimal over-the-horizon military force in the region to protect American personnel and facilities, continue training Iraqi security forces, and root out al Qaeda.
Israel, Palestine and the region
• Starting point must always be a clear and strong commitment to the security of Israel.
• Strive to secure a lasting settlement of the conflict with two states living side by side in peace and security.
• We must help the Israelis identify and strengthen those partners who are truly committed to peace, while isolating those who seek conflict and instability.
• All this will require the personal commitment of the president of the United States.
• Tough-minded diplomacy, backed by the whole range of instruments of American power in dealing with Iran and Syria.
• Although we must not rule out using military force, we should not hesitate to talk directly to Iran.
• Raise the cost for Iran of continuing its nuclear program by applying tougher sanctions and increasing pressure from its key trading partners.
• Show Iran what could be gained from fundamental change: economic engagement, security assurances, and diplomatic relations.
• Diplomacy combined with pressure could also reorient Syria away from its radical agenda to a more moderate stance.
Revitalizing the Military
• Retain the capacity to defeat conventional threats to our country and our vital interests while becoming better prepared for asymmetrical warfare.
• Expand ground forces by adding 65,000 soldiers to the army and 27,000 marines.
• Provide our first-rate equipment, armor, incentives, and training—including in foreign languages and other critical skills.
• Reevaluate all major defense programs in light of current needs, gaps in the field, and likely future threat scenarios
• When we send our men and women into harm's way, clearly define the mission, seek out the advice of our military commanders, objectively evaluate intelligence, and ensure that our troops have the resources and the support they need.
• I will not hesitate to use force, unilaterally if necessary, to protect the American people or our vital interests whenever we are attacked or imminently threatened.
• We must also consider using military force to provide the common security that underpins global stability—to support friends, participate in stability and reconstruction operations, or confront mass atrocities. But when we do use force in situations other than self-defense, we should make every effort to garner the clear support and participation of others.
The spread of nuclear weapons
• America must lead a global effort to secure all nuclear weapons and material at vulnerable sites within four years.
• Work with Russia to secure nuclear weapons and material.
• Work with Russia to update and scale back Cold War nuclear postures and de-emphasize the role of nuclear weapons.
• America must not rush to produce a new generation of nuclear warheads.
• Build bipartisan consensus behind ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
• Negotiate a verifiable global ban on the production of new nuclear weapons material.
• Deal with loopholes in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that can allow countries to build the basis for a weapons program under the auspices of developing peaceful nuclear power.
• Provide $50 million to help create an International Atomic Energy Agency-controlled nuclear fuel bank.
• Fully implement the law to help the United States and our allies detect and stop the smuggling of weapons of mass destruction throughout the world.
• Develop a strong international coalition to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and eliminate North Korea's nuclear weapons program. (“I will not take the military option off the table.”)
A more effective global response to terrorism
• Refocus efforts on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
• Pursue an integrated strategy that reinforces our troops in Afghanistan and works to remove the limitations placed by some NATO allies on their forces.
• Sustained diplomacy to isolate the Taliban and more effective development programs that target aid to areas where the Taliban are making inroads.
• Insist that Pakistan crack down on the Taliban, pursue Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants, and end its relationship with all terrorist groups.
• Encourage dialogue between Pakistan and India to work toward resolving their dispute over Kashmir and between Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their historic differences and develop the Pashtun border region.
• Build a military and partnerships as strong as the anticommunist alliance that won the Cold War to stay on the offense everywhere from Djibouti to Kandahar.
• Strengthen homeland security and protect critical infrastructure.
• Spend homeland security dollars on the basis of risk: defend mass transit, screen all cargo on passenger airliners and check all passengers against a comprehensive watch list, and upgrade port security by ensuring that cargo is screened for radiation.
• Develop intelligence technologies and practices that enable us to efficiently collect and share information within and across our intelligence agencies.
• Invest more in human intelligence and deploy additional trained operatives and diplomats with knowledge of local cultures and languages.
• Institutionalize the practice of developing competitive assessments of critical threats and strengthen our methodologies of analysis.
• Develop a comprehensive strategy to defeat global terrorists -- one that draws on the full range of American power, not just our military might.
• Deepen our knowledge of the circumstances and beliefs that underpin extremism.
• Export opportunity—access to education and health care, trade and investment—and provide steady support for political reformers and civil society.
Rebuild alliances, partnerships, and institutions necessary to enhance security
• Rally our NATO allies to contribute more troops to collective security operations and to invest more in reconstruction and stabilization capabilities.
• Build new alliances and partnerships in other vital regions: East Asia in particular.
• Rededicate America to the United Nations and its mission to accomplish necessary reforms.
• Enact a cap-and-trade system to reduce our carbon emissions.
• Free America of its dependence on foreign oil: through energy efficiency, renewable energy and biofuels.
• Invest in efficient and clean technologies at home while using our assistance policies and export promotions to help developing countries leapfrog the carbon-energy-intensive stage of development.
• Binding and enforceable commitments to reducing emissions, especially for those that pollute the most: the United States, China, India, the European Union, and Russia.
Strengthen our common security by investing in our common humanity
Our global engagement cannot be defined by what we are against; it must be guided by a clear sense of what we stand for. We have a significant stake in ensuring that those who live in fear and want today can live with dignity and opportunity tomorrow.
Romney: Rising to a New Generation of Global Challenges
Summary: Washington is as divided on foreign policy as it has been at any point in the last 50 years. As the "greatest generation" did before us, we must move beyond political camps to unite around bold actions in order to build a strong America and a safer world. We must strengthen our military and economy, achieve energy independence, reenergize civilian and interagency capabilities, and revitalize our alliances.Whether or not the current "surge" in troop levels in Iraq succeeds, the United States and our allies need to be prepared to deal not only with the struggle against jihadists but with a new generation of challenges that go far beyond any single nation or conflict.
We need an honest debate about what policies and what sacrifices will ensure a strong America and a safe world.
A strong America requires a strong military and a strong economy.
Building US military and economic strength
• Add at least 100,000 troops and make a long-overdue investment in equipment, armament, weapons systems, and strategic defense.
• Add $30-$40 billion annually over the next several years to modernize the military, fill gaps in troop levels, ease the strain on our National Guard and Reserves, and support wounded soldiers.
• Commit to spending a minimum of four percent of GDP on national defense.
• A team of private-sector leaders and defense experts should carry out a stem-to-stern analysis of military purchasing to eliminate excessive contractor and supplier charges and prevent political deals.
• Congress needs to set stricter lobbying rules and exercise more oversight.
• Maintain our economic lead through policies such as smaller government, lower taxes, better schools and health care, greater investment in technology, and the promotion of free trade, while maintaining the strength of America's families, values, and moral leadership.
Energy independence
• Develop technology for energy efficiency.
• Increase domestic energy production with more drilling offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, more nuclear power, more renewable energy sources, more ethanol, more biodiesel, more solar and wind power, and a fuller exploitation of coal.
• Initiate a bold, far-reaching research initiative that will be our generation's equivalent of the Manhattan Project or the mission to the moon. It will be a mission to create new, economical sources of clean energy and clean ways to use the sources we have now.
Rethinking and reenergizing civilian capabilities
• Change the cultures of civilian agencies to create dynamic, flexible, and task-based approaches that focus on results rather than bureaucracy.
• Organize the work of civilian agencies should be organized along common geographic boundaries, with independent objectives, budgets, and oversight. Their performance should be evaluated according to their success in promoting America's political, military, diplomatic, and economic interests in their respective regions and building the foundations of freedom, democracy, security, and peace.
Revitalizing and strengthening alliances
• The United States' strength is amplified when it is combined with the strength of other nations. Whether diplomatically, militarily, or economically, the United States is stronger when its friends stand alongside it.
• Continue to push for reform of the United Nations.
• Examine where existing alliances can be strengthened and reinvigorated and where new alliances need to be forged. For example, global networks of intelligence and law enforcement, and strengthening regional cooperation and security partnerships with responsible actors in order to confront challenges such as the genocide in Darfur.
• If elected, one of my first acts as president would be to call for a summit of nations to address the issues of supporting moderate Muslims in their effort to defeat radical and violent Islam.
• Congress must give the president the authority to expand and integrate our existing free-trade agreements in the region.
• Push for more integration and cross-border cooperation in the Middle East.