Cassilis

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has published a good background briefing note on the foreign policy positions of the leading Presidential candidates. It's conclusions differ slightly from a piece Martin Kettle wrote a few months back in which he suggested the foreign policy implications wouldn't be as stark as many Europeans hoped:
The IPPR note disagrees and reaches a slightly more heartening conclusion for those of us keen to see a real shift in US-global relations. Neither of the two likely Republican candidates have anything like the hawkish attitudes of the current incumbent, particularly the likely winner McCain. And just because Hillary & Obama trade insults so often over Iraq we shouldn't forget that whatever their personal differences they're still some distance off the traditional neocon approach. According to the IPPR note the election will have tremendous consequences for US foreign policy:

"The United States has come to a fork in the road. In November 2008, the American people will choose from two divergent visions of foreign policy. No other election dating back into the last century has presented such a clear choice. This year, the Republican candidates, with the notable exception of John McCain, would lead the US down a similar path to that of the current administration. A new Republican president would, by instinct, emphasise the military as the primary engine of American security, would work with allies on an ad hoc basis while devaluing formal alliances and institutions, and would focus on terrorism and military threats while sidelining some of the rapidly developing challenges likely to dominate the security landscape in the coming decades. Only John McCain would broaden the scope of Republican foreign policy priorities to include major emerging issues like climate change and a power shift towards Asia. But even McCain believes in the central role of the US military in American foreign and security policy and his approach to international affairs would not deviate from the other Republican candidates in that critical area.

On the other path, the Democratic candidates would steer a very different course. A new Democratic president would seek to restore the US’s position at the heart of a thriving system of international alliances, would invest effort and political capital across a broader set of existing and emerging threats and would emphasise all the instruments of national power, not just the military, to achieve common objectives. Given the stark nature of the choice, it is likely that America’s role in the world, and European perceptions of it, may be shaped for a generation by the outcome of this year’s campaign."

p.s. Being a bit of a political junkie I'm considering a weekly round-up post on the most interesting things coming out of the leading UK/US think tanks - the sort of thing you find above. I should spot most things via my FeedReader but if you spot anything interesting please let me know and if you think the round up thing would be a good idea..."

Labels: Politics