What should President Obama's foreign policy priorities be?

[cali]

There's a lot of cleaning up to do. Where should President Obama focus?

I'd like to see him normalize relations with Iran, ease tensions with Russia, improve relations with Latin America and work on the I/P conflict, with a goal of an independent and viable Palestine and a secure Israel.

I don't see Iraq as so much a foreign policy issue as a Defense Department issue. Getting out of Iraq is critical

[Phred42]

1. You mean Hillary's policy?

:shrug:

[cali]

3. No, indeed. I mean Obama's.

It's simply foolish to believe that Hillary will be some rogue SoS. People keep underestimating Obama. You'd think they'd learn.

[Phred42]

8. We'll see.

And I do hope you're right.

But it almost looks like Obama thinks he gets extra points for "Degree of Difficulty"

[madokie]

10. Some won't ever

I think SoS will be a good fit for Hillary, us and the Obama Administration. Right now screw politics lets do some damage control then they can go back to the infighting and all.

[saltpoint]

2. Hi, cali. Yes. As you mentioned, I hope the Middle East generally and

the Israel/Palestine theater especially are very high on the list.

Not least, I would just like to see Barack and Michelle visit crowds of citizens in other nations on all continents and greet them and shake their hands.

I'd like to see these two First Citizens re-boot our relationship with the rest of the world.

[mike_c]

4. STOP THE ILLEGAL WAR AGAINST IRAQ....

Sorry for shouting, but NO positive foreign policy revisions make sense in the context of ongoing crimes against humanity. After that:

Remove U.S. military bases from abroad.

Stop financial blackmail of foreign governments.

Stop resource exploitation of foreign populations-- negotiate fair trade/labor agreements.

Cease support of Israeli apartheid.

Stop the generalized war on the poor around the world, with special emphasis on stopping the war against Islam.

Gut the U.S. military budget and use the money to fund global projects that benefit people rather than kill them or coerce access to their resources, i.e. medical research/care, provision of clean water and food, etc. (I see this as a foreign policy issue as well as a domestic issue).

on edit: Get the hell out of Afghanistan, too.

That's a start.

[cali]

6. Should i have stipulated realistic goals?

Guess so. As I said, Ending the war in Iraq is a function of DoD. I agree it has to be first on the list there.

I'd settle for closing Gitmo- the base not just the camp. But I recognize that's unlikely to happen anytime soon. The U.S. will not be closing all its overseas bases. Just not going to happen.

As for Israel/Palestine, an even handed approach is what I'm looking for.

[Runcible Spoon]

11. you ask a question, get a reasonable answer, and then berate it as unrealistic..fabulous

people like you are WHY mike's suggestions are "unrealistic". Now why don't you just go back to what you do best, calling people purists and kooks, and telling us why criticism of "post partisanship" is bad mmk?

[KharmaTrain]

5. Multi-Layered...

There's a lot of bridge mending that will have to be done first. There's a cache of goodwill out there...many will just be glad that boooosh is gone...but there's still a lot of damaged fences to mend and groundwork to lay. It'll be re-connecting with many countries on almost a "get-to-know-you" basis. I could see Hillary going on a listening tour, touring all major world capitals, letting those leaders air it out and then start in rebuilding trusts and alliances.

Iraq and Afghanistan are the priority as long as we have troops in harms way. Our military is stretched to broken and who knows how much weaker it will get as the economic crisis will have its affects on our ability to keep throwing all that money into a rat hole. Economic recovery won't be possible until this expense is removed.

Then comes the fun of getting those troops out safely. That just won't require dealing with Iraq but then opening up dialogues with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Pakistan. I expect some troops to be moved to Afghanistan...and then some kind of arrangement will have to be worked out there...again...since we have blood and boots on the ground.

One hopes a lot of this can be accomplished during the first year and with it set the stage for bigger issues. A lot of where things go depend on how quickly the Obama administration can establish or re-establish connections...especially with the I/P situation. A withdrawl from Iraq could open the doors on serious multi-party negotiations for a more comprehensive peace. But right now fence mending is definitely in order.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

[madrchsod]

9. Israel-Palestine

until there is agreement the middle east will always be a problem.