'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
The U.S. reluctance to become deeply involved in Syria has likely emboldened dictator Bashar Assad to use chemical weapons in his country's 2-year-old civil war, analysts say.
International sanctions are squeezing Iran's economy but are doing little to dissuade the regime's nuclear ambitions, the top U.S. intelligence officer told Congress on Thursday.
In hindsight, Sen. John F. Kerry was the obvious pick for President Obama when he went looking for someone to replace outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly declared that "a world without America is not only desirable, it is achievable." While that sentiment won't be embraced in President Obama's inaugural address next week, all other things being equal, it seems likely to be the practical effect of his second term.
Syria's protracted civil war is spilling across its borders, creating breeding grounds for extremists, sharpening sectarian schisms and threatening to destabilize U.S. allies in the Middle East.
Mitt Romney has been surprisingly reticent about attacking President Obama's handling of the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya, but on Monday, his campaign signaled he will begin to take a harder line on Mr. Obama's foreign policy overall heading into Wednesday's first debate.
Mitt Romney's overtly political response to Tuesday's attacks on American diplomatic posts in Egypt and Libya drew fire from both the left and right, but some Republicans said the flare-up gives him an opening to further paint President Obama as the heir to President Carter.
There have been numerous examples in recent years of Muslims reacting violently to perceived slights from the West against their faith, but some analysts doubt that the attacks on U.S. diplomats in Libya and Egypt on the anniversary of 9/11 fit neatly into this history of extremists defending the honor of Islam.
Growing instability from Syria to Egypt highlights the Obama administration's failure to develop a consistent strategy for promoting democracy in the wake of popular uprisings in the region, analysts say.
Libya's transition provides lessons for how to proceed in the future, President Obama said.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that the midterm election results would not change the Obama administration's policies abroad.
"When you're in a position of redefining your rhetoric, you're in a bad place. It means not only do you not have a policy, you don't have a clear set of principles that define your vision for the American role in the world," she said.
But backing away from a "red line" would hurt President Obama's credibility, said Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy for the American Enterprise Institute.
