Foreign Policy (in support)

Unless you are more of a traditional conservative in the mold of a Ron Paul or a General McCormick who use to publish articles endorsing the Presidential candidacy of former Ohio U.S. Senator Robert Taft in the pages of the Chicago Tribune you tend to embrace some semblance of an interventionist foreign policy. McCormick at one point ran one of the most successful newspapers in the country. His point of view tended to fall out of state particularly with the election of FDR. His outlook is certainly out of vogue today as well. For example, although many people questioned the wisdom of waging war within Iraq, very few people questioned the necessity to go into Afghanistan in order to fight the Taliban following the 9/11 attacks.

That sort of interventionist foreign policy was first seriously advanced by former President Woodrow Wilson within his Fourteen Points Plan. He also would have likely been a big supporter of the United Nations, given that his brain child was the League of Nations. The United Nations tends to play a big role in our foreign policy. It is typically a good thing that the United Nations plays a role because it reminds us that there is indeed a world around us. The United Nations lets us discuss things based on a multilateral approach without truly trampling upon our individual rights as a nation. This is why most Americans appears to have grown to accept and embrace the United Nations.

The American people simply do not embrace the concept of watching fellow human beings on a world stage. This is why they have welcomed a foreign policy which allows us to play a large role on a world stage in an effort to spread freedom, justice and security. This is why Bill Clinton was allowed to use security forces in order to invade the Balkans in an effort to curb genocide there. That campaign created a larger profile for a future presidential candidate and Clinton ally General Wesley Clark. Clark would be a good adviser to pose foreign policy questions to. Barack Obama would be making a sound decision if he was to take Clark's wisdom into consideration on a regular basis. Obama as a President so far seems to have embraced the concept of a interventionist foreign policy. He has called for an increase in troops for the war in Afghanistan. Obama has also shown a willingness to talk tough to Pakistan in order to make sure that Pakistan does not become a safe haven for terrorists.