I forgot to include Obama's foreign policy in my previous post on critiquing his performance. I would rate his foreign policy as A- or A. After the Bush presidency, Obama is a true breath of fresh air. He chose just the right tack on the upheaval in Iran and policy vis-a-vis Iran since then. I think he should be removing troops out of Iraq quicker, but that is a minor quibble. He is probably doing the best that can be done in the Israel/Palestine problem. The Netanyahu government seems unmovable and domestic support for Israel is mostly irrational and unyielding. His latest approach on the Israeli blockade of Gaza is probably the best and only approach. It will take some time to revise US foreign policy in this area and bring about any real change. We may not see anything concrete until, hopefully, a second Obama term. We may need a change in Israel's government before any progress can be made.
As I mentioned in my earlier post on rating, too many people voice opinions without knowing what they are talking about. Thus, I have refrained from forming any conclusions about Afghanistan and Pakistan for several reasons. First, the situations may be intractable. As long as Karzai is in charge in Afghanistan, real progress may be very difficult or impossible, yet we cannot force him out; that would be worse. Pakistan is also difficult because of political instability and the fragility of the current government. Second, it is so hard to know what the facts on the ground truly are. I don't know if anyone really knows with precision where the various parties stand in relative strength. Last year I saw a couple of discussions about Pakistan with two different panels on separate occasions. Both panels had three commentators with extensive background and knowledge of Pakistan. The two panels reached pretty much opposite conclusions. One said that Pakistan is so westernized that it will be securely in the western camp for the future and will develop both economically and politically.. The other panel saw a nation in danger of disintegration and adoption of radical Islam. We have a Pakistani friend who recently visited Pakistan and I asked him his opinion. He was kind of in the middle. I still am not sure what to think.
The good news is that General McChrystal, in charge of counter-insurgency in Afghanistan, seems to really understand the problem. Whether that and 60,000 more troops will be enough to overcome the Taliban and mis-government by Karzai is an open question. I think that Obama is right to put a timetable on the operation. We can't afford these foreign misadventures any more. Whatever the situation in Pakistan, Obama has gotten more cooperation from Pakistan and the Pakistani military than Bush ever did. This has resulted in real progress against al-Qaida. Obama has also correctly recognized the importance of resolving the Kashmir question between India and Pakistan. Until there is peace between India and Pakistan, the Pakistan military's effort towards its militants will be somewhat half-hearted. Although he may not be able to solve the problem, at least he recognizes it and is working on it, something that escaped the Bush administration. Also, unlike the Bush administration, Obama recognizes that terrorism is a political problem requiring a political solution, it is not a strictly military problem.
Finally, let me add something that seems to escape the Obama critics. Obama has restored diplomacy to its rightful place in American foreign policy. Diplomacy does not bring results over night, or even within a year, especially after 8 years of alienating both friends and neutrals. And yet we already have seen positive signs. As Churchill once said, it is better to jaw, jaw, jaw than to war, war, war. Military force rarely goes smoothly and almost always brings about unanticipated adverse consequences. Whatever diplomacy's failings, it should be the first resort and force the last resort.
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