• Slow and Steady
• Foreign policy and international public opinion
• Palin's future
• What future for conservatives?
• For The Love Of The Game
• Why does the world hate us?
• A note to both campaigns:
• Weekend Plans (updated x3)
• The failed public relations campaign of Capitalism and Capitalists
• The future of Sarah Palin
• Michael Ramirez sees it clearly
• We yelled "Trick or Treat!" when we kicked down the door
• Talking the talk
• Again leading from the rear
• The abortion non-issue

• November 2008
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• July 2008
• June 2008
• May 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
• November 2007
• October 2007
• September 2007
• August 2007
• July 2007
• June 2007
• May 2007
• April 2007
• March 2007
• February 2007
• January 2007
• December 2006
• November 2006
• October 2006
• September 2006
• August 2006
• July 2006
• June 2006
• May 2006
• April 2006
• March 2006
• February 2006
• January 2006
• December 2005
• November 2005
• October 2005
• September 2005
• August 2005
• July 2005
• June 2005

« Palin's future | Main | Slow and Steady »

Foreign policy and international public opinion

Matthew Yglesias writes that to succeed in putting forth a progressive foreign policy, Barack Obama will need to get the support of moderate Republicans and effectively peel them away from the neoconservative agenda. That shouldn't be too difficult, though Yglesias correctly notes that it needs to have the right spin in order to be helpful.

But there is one part of this article that really caught my attention:

...unlike on domestic issues, an Obama administration won't be able to simply assume that public opinion supports them on crucial national-security questions. There remains considerable evidence that the public has more implicit faith in the GOP's ability to keep the country safe.

I suppose that's true of the American public, but Obama's election was heralded the world over. This gives him opportunities. Like it or not, the fact that only Americans can vote for our president does not mean that only American opinions matter. Our foreign policy options depend in part on how much foreigners like and trust us. A savvy president can certainly use that to his advantage.

The American public may have more implicit faith in the GOP's ability to keep the country safe, but the public in most other countires seems to have more implicit faith in Barack Obama than they do in anybody in the Bush administration. If he is able to build his current cult of personality into any level of international goodwill, his administration certainly will be able to assume that the public supports them on crucial national-security questions. If done right, he could be afforded more cooperation and an even freer hand by people in other nations than by the general public of his own. In this regard in particular, it will be interesting to see how he measures up with the last several presidents.