WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama’s handling of the Arab Spring is likely to crop up when he debates foreign policy Monday night with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. But what the United States could have done differently as longtime allies were knocked from power in one country after another is far from clear, foreign-policy analysts say.
The rise of conservative Islamists in countries once considered staunch U.S. allies undoubtedly undercut American interests in the region, the analysts agree. The United States, however, could have done little to stop those revolts, and the long-term impact of the changes is still unclear.
What is clear, the experts say, is that whoever serves the next four years as president must realize that there’s no appetite for the United States’ old paternalistic stance toward Arab nations; new leaders demand a more respectful and balanced relationship similar to what Turkey or European nations enjoy.
“One thing that has sunken in is that American leverage is limited,” said Nathan Brown, a political-science professor at George Washington University who has written extensively about the Arab transitions, with a focus on Egypt. “So many Arab societies have turned inward, so the priorities are inherently domestic.”
Democrats defend the administration’s support of Arab protests as the United States being on “the right side of history,” describing the current instability and rise in extremist attacks as only temporary setbacks. Romney’s campaign, meanwhile, has said the president’s foreign policy is “unraveling,” with the harshest jabs reserved for the administration’s handling of the attacks last month on U.S. diplomatic posts in Libya.
Away from the hyperbole on both sides, foreign-policy analysts offer a more dispassionate assessment of how Arab revolts quickly outpaced U.S. maneuvering, leaving the administration with few choices but to offer support to the untested revolutionary movements.
“It hasn’t been particularly successful, but I’m not sure another policy would’ve had any different outcome,” Brown said.
About the final debate
Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m. MDT, the third and final debate between President Barack Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney
Site:
Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla.
Topics: Foreign policy
How it works: The debate will be divided into six segments of about 15 minutes each. Moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS News will open each segment with a question, and each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a discussion of the topic.
TV: ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, C-Span
