The quite rage began across country by experts when it comes to foreign policy as a result of Barack Obama’s speech at West Point. Omitting the fact that he included climate change as a major global threat, Barack Obama worked to defend his posture and to explain his own view on why America is in fact exceptional and not weak when it comes to enemies of the United States. He even took a shot at World War ll veterans and military leadership by saying they did not estimate the later conditions or damage of their strategic decisions during World War ll.
The United States has a historical and successful duty to provide equilibrium to the world. There have been some failures yet they were corrected, yet no other nation has stepped up across the globe where the duty has fallen to America. The globe calls us to duty now yet Barack Obama has vertigo when it comes to leading, being decisive and demonstrating power.
The reaction to the speech was broadly in agreement, such that Obama is not a war-time president much less does he see the world for what it is but rather for what he wants it to be. Just a small comparison of the West Point speech, see the two videos here.
Reaction to the President’s West Point Speech
At West Point, President Obama Binds America’s Hands on Foreign Affairs – Washington Post Editorial
President Obama has retrenched U.S. global engagement in a way that has shaken the confidence of many U.S. allies and encouraged some adversaries. That conclusion can be heard not just from Republican hawks but also from senior officials from Singapore to France and, more quietly, from some leading congressional Democrats. As he has so often in his political career, Mr. Obama has elected to respond to the critical consensus not by adjusting policy but rather by delivering a big speech.
Obama’s Vision of U.S. as ‘Empowering Partners’ – Christian Science Monitor Editorial
Obama quoted President Kennedy about peace needing to be based upon “a gradual evolution in human institutions.” As more people and nations evolve toward shared ideals, the task of maintaining international order also becomes more of a shared one. The U.S., which was so instrumental as a military leader in the 20th century, can take on a new role in bringing nations and people closer.
America Can’t Ignore Military Muscle of Russia and China – Washington Examiner Editorial
President Obama told West Point’s graduating cadets Wednesday that “some of our most costly mistakes came not from our restraint, but from our willingness to rush into military adventures without thinking through the consequences.” Apparently the nation’s commander-in-chief is unaware of — or perhaps unconcerned by — the more pressing reality that bad things happen when America’s real and potential adversaries don’t fear U.S. strength.
Obama’s Unclear Foreign Policy Path – Richard N. Haass, Council on Foreign Relations
President Barack Obama has laid out a vision for U.S. foreign policy calling for the need to avoid both unnecessary military entanglements and isolationism. CFR President Richard N. Haass said the speech at West Point on May 28 appeared too focused on what the president opposed and less on what he favored. “It was an attempt to essentially carve out a form of involvement in the world that avoided any and every excess,” Haass said. “But with one or two exceptions, it didn’t provide any specifics.” Obama’s call for ramping up support for non-jihadist rebels in Syria is welcomed, Haass said.
Doubling Down on a Muddled Foreign Policy – John Bolton, Wall Street Journal
At West Point on Wednesday, President Obama told the graduating seniors that he had discovered a middle way in foreign policy between isolationism and military interventionism. To the White House, this was like “the dawn come up like thunder outer China,” in Kipling’s phrase. Others were less impressed, especially since it took five-plus years of on-the-job training to grasp this platitude. Of course the United States has options between war and complete inaction. Not since Nixon has a president so relished uncovering middling alternatives between competing straw men.
The Obama Defense – Michael O’Hanlon, Foreign Affairs
U.S. President Obama — increasingly accused of having a listless foreign policy that, in the eyes of some, made Russian President Vladimir Putin believe he could get away with stealing Crimea — is doing much better on the world stage than his critics allow. But he does still have to address one significant problem. If he does not, he will likely find himself increasingly harangued over a supposed decline in American influence and power on his watch. His West Point speech on May 28 will probably fix some of the problem, but not all of it.
Obama’s Foreign Policy Repeats Some Avoidable Mistakes – David Ignatius, Washington Post
President Obama’s measured defense of his foreign policy at West Point on Wednesday made many cogent points to rebut critics. Unfortunately, the speech also showed that he hasn’t digested some of the crucial lessons of his presidency.
Obama Just Accidentally Explained Why His Foreign Policy Hasn’t Worked – Elliott Abrams, Washington Post
At West Point today, President Obama marched out his army of straw men and continued his ungracious habit of taking credit for successful actions attributable to his predecessor. But at bottom, the policy he outlined will be of little comfort to our allies and to the cause of freedom in the world.
Obama at West Point: A Foreign Policy of False Choices – David Frum, The Atlantic
On the evidence of President Obama’s commencement address at West Point on Wednesday, he’d have made an outstanding State Department memo-writer. The president outlined a Washington policy debate occurring in three corners. Over in Corner 1 are those who believe in “a strategy that involves invading every country that harbors terrorist networks.” Huddled in Corner 2 are those who insist that “conflicts in Syria or Ukraine or the Central African Republic are not ours to solve.” Between these obviously stupid extremes is a sensible third way, which happens to coincide perfectly with the policy of the Obama administration.
What Obama Didn’t Explain in His Foreign Policy Speech at West Point – Doyle McManus, Los Angeles Times
President Obama’s foreign policy speech at West Point on Wednesday didn’t break any new ground, not even rhetorically. But it wasn’t intended to. It was meant as a rebuttal, an answer to critics who have harried Obama for months complaining that America’s adversaries (Russia, China and Syria, for example) are pursuing their goals with more success than the United States has found in stopping them. The criticisms have gotten under Obama’s skin. He gripes about them frequently, in public and in private. So, with a speech already promised for West Point’s graduation ceremony, he seized the opportunity for a longer, more considered version of his side of the argument.
Obama Says Goodbye to American Hubris – Peter Bergen, CNN News
What Obama did in his West Point speech was to chart a course that balances two natural, and contradictory, American national security impulses — isolationism and interventionism — and points to a hybrid approach that avoids some of the pitfalls of either of these strategic approaches.
Obama vs. His Imagined Critics – Max Boot, Commentary
In his much ballyhooed West Point address, President Obama employed what in the 1990s was known as “triangulation”–but not an effective or convincing form of triangulation, rather one that appears to be mainly rhetorical instead of policy oriented.
The New World Disorder – Richard Parker, McClatchy-Tribune
The president’s speech Wednesday at West Point was, as all of his speeches are, a fine speech. But it did not advance the ball. He did not move the locus of American attention and energy out of the Middle East and northern Africa, where he continued to focus on the fragments of the remnants of al-Qaida. For a president who correctly noted that “not every problem is a nail,” he focused chiefly on the nails of terrorism and the hammer of the judicious use of force.
Obama’s Small Ball Foreign Agenda – Steve Huntley, Chicago Sun-Times
A strategy of singles and doubles is how President Barack Obama recently characterized his foreign policy. Anyone looking for more than small ball in what the White House billed as a major speech at West Point on Wednesday was bound to be disappointed. No big agenda or ambitious goals were pronounced. It was more a steady as we go on the more modest role Obama has chartered for America in world affairs.
Obama’s Foreign Policy Speech Sounds Familiar – Michael Crowley, Time
Obama’s foreign policy address at West Point won’t satisfy his critics, but it might reassure anxious supporters. For all the hype, President Barack Obama’s foreign policy speech at West Point on Wednesday didn’t break much new ground.
The Goldilocks Speech – Eric Cantor, ABC News
Today’s address at West Point was a goldilocks speech. Trying to find the lukewarm bowl of porridge will not likely reassure those who worry about our lack of leadership, and will not concern those who fear its return.
Commentators Break Down Obama Foreign Policy Speech at West Point – U.S. News & World Report Roundup
Views You Can Use: Staying the Course on Foreign Policy – Obama’s West Point speech didn’t break much ground.
Did Obama Make His Case? – New York Times Debate
In his address to graduating West Point cadets on Wednesday, President Obama laid out his administration’s foreign policy goals. His speech was directed at his critics who have suggested “that America is in decline” and “has seen its global leadership slip away.” Did it work?
US Lawmakers React to Obama Speech at West Point – Michael Bowman, Voice of America
One of Barack Obama’s top congressional critics in foreign policy matters has responded forcefully to a speech in which the president mapped out his vision for U.S. engagement around the globe.
