Monday, January 11, 2010
News Don't Panic: What are Obama’s top foreign policy objectives for 2010?
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 4:14 PM
How are your New Year's resolutions working for you?
Mine are going well. I find that the key to success is setting realistic goals. More than a week into 2010, I'm still keeping my New Year's vow to gain weight, spend less time with my friends, watch more TV, and update my Twitter feed more while I'm driving.
Government policy initiatives aren't quite the same as New Year's resolutions, but in recent weeks the Obama administration has offered hints about its top objectives for 2010. It's part spin-doctoring. Politicians must manage expectations. One of the reasons Obama's approval rating has taken such a huge hit in recent months is the gap between the nation's high expectations and the nation's currently dreadful economic reality. I'm not saying Obama has done a good or bad job domestically. But I do think millions of people overestimated the ability of short-term policy changes to steer a giant country out of a long-term, systemic economic mess.
President Obama's big domestic New Year's resolution appears to be acting to reduce the budget deficit, and to do it in a way that signals seriousness to deficit-sensitive independent voters. This is a Congressional election year, after all.
Overseas, Obama's objectives include getting out of Iraq as quickly and as quietly as possible, while delving deeper into Afghanistan, Somalia, Yemen, and anywhere else that would-be al-Qaida operatives are cramming explosives under their nutsacks.
Continue Reading "Don't Panic: What are Obama’s top foreign policy objectives for 2010?"
(Photo illustration by Andisheh Nouraee)
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