
The Brief
Get Up To SpeedWhat might Machiavelli have made of the 44th President of the United States? Barack Obama set out to change the tone of US foreign policy. And he did. By virtue of his personal story, by dint of his not being George W. Bush, he arrived in the White House as both object of fascination and source of relief to a world grown accustomed to resenting the US itself. Here is a president who acknowledges that we hold no monopoly on the legitimacy of our interests, who aspires to finding the common ground in resolving disagreements with friend and foe. His caution, his deliberativeness, his stated willingness to at least try to negotiate even with our bitterest enemies and to cool down the rhetoric ' played so well out of the gate, that they gave him the Nobel Peace Prize ' after just 262 days in office. But is love enough to lead? Or might the president need some wins along the way? For the most part, they've been hard to come by. None yet in Iraq and Afghanistan. And Iran's mullah's don't seem to feel an urgent need to end the nuclear standoff. Seeking a new balance in America's dealings in the Middle East, Obama asked Israel to stop building settlements, but the building goes on. And the Chinese seem to understand his less than aggressive stance in pressing for human rights as a green light to change nothing. Even when the stakes were less than life and death ' his bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago ' he was denied. Not that any of this is easy. And it may be that some of these more serious challenges would by now be more difficult still if Obama had not set a new tone. But might the opposite be true? Might our adversaries see the president's coolness as uncertainty and his deliberativeness as weakness? Can they exploit his affinity for common ground, by pushing to gain more ground for themselves? By acknowledging that all sides can have legitimate interests, as well as legitimate grievances, is the president yielding the high ground? Most importantly, are we safer now that we are living in the era of president number 44? It comes down to being respected, which is not the same as being liked. Americans have always aspired to have it both ways. Machiavelli would have us choose.
View Debate Page- From The Panel
- For the Motion
- Against the Motion
- Obama's Policy is Evolving
- Obama's Foreign Policy
- Obama's Leadership Style
- Foreign Policy in the Middle East
- Foreign Policy in Iran
- Foreign Policy in Israel
- Miscalculations in U.S. Afghan Offensive
- Foreign Policy in Pakistan
- Foreign Policy in Iraq
- Nuclear Strategy
- Foreign Policy in Russia
- Foreign Policy in Asia
- Foreign Policy in China
- Foreign Policy in India
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Dan Senor

- Founding Partner, Rosemont Capital
Dan Senor and Christian Whiton, TIME, June 20, 2009
Dan Senor and Christian Whiton, Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2009
Dan Senor and Peter Wehner, Wall Street Journal, September 3, 2009
Dan Senor, Wall Street Journal, July 21, 2009
Mort Zuckerman

- Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report
Mortimer Zuckerman, Wall Street Journal Europe, April 28, 2010
Mortimer Zuckerman, April 2, 2010
It is the president's job to offer a coherent program for the twin threats of a static economy and an unsustainable explosion of our debts and deficits.
To climb out of the fiscal hole, there must be hard compromises from everyone on the political spectrum. Conservatives will have to accept tax increases and defense cuts, and liberals will have to accept the reduction of entitlement benefits.
Wesley Clark

- Four-Star General as NATOâs Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.
With a brutal dictator like Mr. Assad, only the knowledge that he cannot prevail will force him to negotiate an exit.
Bernard-Henri Levy

- French Philosopher & Journalist
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For the Motion
The new liberalism and the end of American ascendancy.