The republican mission.

• Author: Burt, Richard
• Position: The Realist

The Republican Party's dramatic success in the midterm elections and the gop takeover of the Senate in particular give Republicans both new opportunities and responsibilities in shaping U.S. foreign policy. At the same time, most Republicans in Congress have little or no confidence in Barack Obama's foreign policy, are offended by his assertiveness in exercising executive power and his occasional outright deception, and are eager for payback. All three of these sentiments are understandable, but Republicans must firmly control the third one--the desire for revenge--in the name of the national interest.

The combination of the president's constitutional authority and America's historical practice means that Obama is not only the commander in chief, but also enjoys considerable latitude in running U.S. foreign policy. Yet, taking into account recent polls showing that voters believe Republicans would do a better job than Democrats at managing foreign policy--by a margin of 43 percent to 37 percent--few would be surprised that many Republican legislators want to wrest as much control as possible from the president in this area.

And it is not just a matter of public opinion--attitudes have turned against Obama and his administration in large part due to their poor stewardship of America's international role. After six years of Obama's leadership, America is worse off in many key regions. In the Middle East, despite a great investment in American lives, treasure and prestige, the Obama administration is fighting a dispirited rearguard action. U.S. efforts to bolster Iraq against the group calling itself the Islamic State appear too little and too late, while American policy toward Syria borders on incompetence. Likewise, in Afghanistan, American troops are leaving the country with the Taliban largely intact and waiting to launch a counteroffensive--hardly a success story. While the administration has some achievements in its relations with China, tension and suspicion increasingly define our overall ties. Moreover, the administration's cautious approaches elsewhere have emboldened Beijing in pursuing opportunities to overturn the global and particularly the regional order by reinforcing its narrative of America in decline. In the middle of a major crisis over Ukraine, the administration still rejects the notion of a new cold war and is in denial about the clear and present danger of a military conflict with another major nuclear power. Here, the Obama administration's denials have as little meaning as its...