Romney’s Foreign Policy as a Mark of Confidence

Romney doesn’t want to change everything about U.S. foreign policy — just make a few improvements. The optimism of Obama’s challenger would do the troubled West some good.

In the past year and a half, Europe has been concerned largely with internal matters. There were always new bailout packages to discuss, moral debates to hold and ever more culprits to be found. And, every now and then, there would come a moment where one or another foreign policy expert would shake his head and wonder: Where is America in this whole snafu?

The Americans started the European project and had been involved as a major power in all crises on the continent since WWII. Only now has Washington generally kept a distance.

No wonder the whole world is looking to Angela Merkel to solve Europe’s problems, since Washington can offer neither financial firepower nor a route out of the crisis. In the past few years, the superpower has also been on the edge of the fiscal precipice.

America’s Absence

This American absence is no isolated case. Recently, one increasingly gets the feeling that the driver’s seat in world politics has been deserted. At the very least, the old chauffeur seems to be distracted by his own problems. Most recently, in the Middle East, Washington has operated as a scattered superpower taking a time out. Many allies deplore the fact that America allowed a power vacuum to develop, which others are now beginning to fill.

On this rests Mitt Romney’s criticism of the president. In Europe, the Republican challenger was laughed at as the type who always puts his foot in his mouth in regards to foreign policy — one who is as likely to offend the British as the Palestinians.

Then Romney gave a keynote speech at the [Virginia] Military Institute in Lexington, which showed that this candidate has more to offer in the realm of foreign policy. It is not easy for him to score in this field. America is war weary and therefore widely approves of the fact that the president is pulling U.S. soldiers out of Iraq and has begun reducing the number of troops in Afghanistan. Both at home and overseas, Romney had to dispel the concern that he would be another George W. Bush who might embroil the country in a new misadventure. But, at the same time, he had to set his own course for the classic Republican terrains of foreign and security policy.

Leading from the Front

Romney managed this in a modest speech. He made it clear that, like Obama, he is no fan of posturing and he wants to use America’s power “wisely, with solemnity and without false pride.” At the same time, however, he clearly rejected Obama’s concept of “leading from behind.” He quite clearly wants to occupy the driver’s seat in the world once again, instead of simply reacting passively to events.

Romney recognized that America presents the world with the image of a drifting country, unsure of itself — and this image hurts Western interests. In the Middle East, many allies deplore the fact that America no longer engages sufficiently with the rest of the world. This impression weakens Washington’s real influence in the region, and the epochal revolution in this region is less likely to be shaped in a way that would be desirable.

Reform in the Middle East

Romney compares the reform currently occurring in the Middle East with the European situation after WWII and the conflict at that time between democratic and autocratic models of society. Like George Marshall in Europe during WWII, America today must offer leadership and support in the Middle East. This includes promoting wealth sharing, free markets and open society. America has just lost the opportunity to set a course that would help prevent future conflicts.

With this, Romney places himself clearly against an isolationist stance. “Why us?” is the question asked by more and more Americans in the face of an 11-year war and an ailing economy. To them, he replies that there is no vacuum in world politics. If America does not lead, another state will: a state that would not necessarily promote the same interests and values.

Trade Policy as a Component of Foreign Policy

This speech makes it clear that Europe has nothing to worry about in terms of the foreign policy of a President Romney. On the contrary: It is in the interest of the West if the USA eventually wants to use its leadership role in a more purposeful way. And, to that end, the most important thing is to re-establish America’s economic power.

The expert on Germany and former World Bank President Robert Zoellick recently pointed out in a noteworthy essay how important it is for economic thinking to be introduced once again into American foreign policy. Zoellick leads a team that, in the case of Romney’s election victory, would ensure the smooth transition of power. And he will be a candidate for secretary of state.

He holds that it is fundamental to get America’s deficit problem in control, to limit state spending and to once again give the U.S. economy the means to regain its vitality. These are the preconditions to taking on world leadership.

North Atlantic Free Trade Area

It is interesting to note that both Romney and Zoellick recognize trade policy as an important part of foreign policy. Romney also criticizes Obama for not having concluded a single free trade agreement and promises to change that.

It is high time to reconsider the idea of a North Atlantic Free Trade Area, with which Merkel flirted at the beginning of her first chancellorship. That alone could result in a supplementary yearly economic growth of half a percent, according to expert opinions in Europe and North America.

Above all, however, on both sides of the Atlantic, we must bid farewell to any and all thoughts of futility, whereupon the decline of the West is inevitable and every effort is to no avail. Ultimately, this tearful swan song only serves to render the descent more comfortable, instead of developing ambition and tackling reform. This, then, was also the most enjoyable aspect of Romney’s speech: It exuded a proper amount of American optimism. Romney faces the world with confidence, which the seemingly tired Obama has been lacking for a while.