Fifty days into the new administration, a close examination of foreign policy shows dramatic changes on three broad fronts, with early table setting steps giving way to action abroad and at home.  First, after six years of an Iraq-centric foreign policy the President has begun the process of removing the drain that the Iraq war has had on American resources and credibility by laying out a plan and timeline to end the war.  Obama and his team have reinvigorated American diplomacy.  By resetting relations with Russia, engaging in talks with Syria, inviting Iran to an international conference on Afghanistan, and making the Middle East peace process a priority, they are using diplomacy to create opportunities and widen US policy options at a very challenging moment.  The President has also begun revamping America’s foreign policy infrastructure by giving the State Department the resources it needs to conduct a comprehensive foreign policy, putting greater checks on waste at the Pentagon, and recommitting to a transparent government that can keep us safe and adhere to our constitutional values.  Not everything can or should change overnight, but skeptics’ assertions that Obama’ foreign policy is a continuation of Bush’s is not supported by the facts.    

The President is moving US foreign policy beyond its failed fixation on Iraq.  The plan to end the war presented two weeks ago keeps Obama’s campaign promise to withdraw American combat forces and redefine the mission to focus on training and counterterrorism.  The plan ends combat operations in Iraq by August 31, 2010 and leaves 35,000-50,000 troops as a transition force that will be out by the end of 2011.  It sets a realistic goal of creating an Iraq that is sovereign, stable, and self-reliant.  And with the subsequent announcement of a first withdrawal of 12,000 by this fall it sends a clear message to the Iraqis and the world that America’s troop presence in Iraq is coming to an end.  [Barack Obama, 2/27/09]

The President has dramatically reoriented American diplomacy:

•    Resetting relations with Russia.  Obama, Secretary Clinton and other officials have reached out to Russia on multiple fronts, signaling a new tone and pragmatic possibilities for cooperation.  The New York Times reports that “President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.” Additionally, the administration “set Moscow's security community abuzz by signaling Washington's willingness to work up a replacement for the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which would otherwise expire at the end of this year... The high-level meetings ahead between the US and Russia are likely to be followed by intense activity as the two sides strive to map out a fresh accord by the Dec. 5 deadline,“ reports the Christian Science Monitor.  The AP reports that “Seven months after breaking ties with Russia over its invasion of Georgia, the NATO alliance moved Thursday toward resuming formal relations despite lingering concerns about Moscow's approach to reasserting its regional influence.”  Clinton’s first meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, at which she handed over a small red button marked “reset,” made the agenda clear.  [NY Times, 3/2/09. CS Monitor, 3/5/09. Associated Press, 3/6/09. NY Times, 3/06/09]

•    Reaching out to Syria.  U.S. – Syria relations have long been strained, but there are signs the Obama Administration is seeking to reshuffle the deck, pry Syria away from Iranian influence, reduce its support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and induce greater cooperation on the Middle East peace process and Iraq.  The Administration’s outreach to Syria started with an invitation from acting head of the Near East Affairs bureau Jeffrey Feltman to Syrian Ambassador Imad Mustafa to join him for a meeting at the State Department, and continued with the Obama administration’s decision to send Feltman and National Security Council Aide Dan Shapiro to Syria.  “Feltman called his discussions with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem ‘very constructive’ but disclosed no details. The official Syrian news agency said the two sides discussed ways to build ties and exchanged views on the Middle East.”  [LA Times, 3/8/09. Reuters, 3/1/09. Reuters, 2/25/09.]  

•    Engaging Iran while rebuilding international consensus on a response to its nuclear program.   Obama has made symbolic gestures to Iranians, and to Europeans about Iran.  Substantive followup came last week: “In a sign of the new emphasis on diplomacy, the Obama administration said Thursday that Iran would be invited to a high-level conference on Afghanistan's future.”  This engagement is part of a much needed regional approach to the problems in Afghanistan, but it also presents an opportunity for the United States and Iran to cooperate – as they did successfully on Afghanistan in 2001.  [Associated Press, 3/5/09]

•    Engagement from day one on the Middle East Peace Process.  The president’s Special Envoy  George Mitchell already returned to the region for the second time as, “part of ‘ongoing efforts’ to ‘actively and aggressively’ advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, American officials said.”  And in fact, there has been speculation that he may open an office in Jerusalem.  Moreover, Clinton, in addition to representing the U.S. at the Gaza reconstruction conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, travelled last week to Jerusalem and the West Bank, “as the Obama administration shows it is determined to pursue robust, sustained peacemaking efforts, after years of neglect and belated engagement on the part of the Bush administration.”  During the trip, Clinton expressed that “she believed ‘the inevitability of working toward a two state-solution is inescapable’ and the administration ‘will be vigorously engaged’ in trying to create a Palestinian state.”   [NY Times, 3/04/09. LA Times, 1/27/09. President Obama, 1/26/09.  NY Times, 2/26/09.]

The President is revamping America’s foreign policy infrastructure.

•    Keeping us safe while abiding by our basic constitutional values.   By signing executive orders re-introducing transparency to the executive branch, and beginning the process of closing Guantanamo and the secret detention facilities that have come to blight America’s reputation, the President has begun to return the country to its proud tradition of preserving security, while maintaining its best values. More recently, the Obama administration released nine Office of Legal Counsel memos from 2001-2008 explaining how, under the Bush administration, “the Justice Department secretly gave the green light for the U.S. military to attack apartment buildings and office complexes inside the United States, deploy high-tech surveillance against U.S. citizens and potentially suspend First Amendment freedom-of-the-press rights in order to combat the terror threat…” The New York Times said of this dramatic change in attitude toward secrecy and Presidential power, “[I]t was a relief to see President Obama beginning to make good on his promise of greater transparency.” [NSN, 2/20/09. Newsweek, 3/2/09. NY Times, 3/3/09]

•    A budget that reflects a comprehensive foreign policy.  Obama administration’s budget begins to rebalance defense, diplomacy and development within our foreign policy.  In 2007 Secretary of Gates said, “Funding for non-military foreign affairs pro-grams…remains disproportionately small relative to what we spend on the military... there is a need for a dramatic increase in spending on the civilian instruments of national security.” Despite these statements by his Defense Secretary, President Bush continued to focus on military spending in the foreign policy.  The Administration repeated its pledge to put the budget on a path to double development assistance and proposed significant investments in the tools of our diplomatic and economic power:  “In its first budget, the administration proposed increasing the budget for the State Department and other international programs by almost 10%, from $47.2 billion in fiscal year 2009 to $51.7 billion in fiscal year 2010.” [Robert Gates, 11/26/07. WS Journal, 2/26/09]

•    Taking aim at waste in military procurement.  Last week, Obama directed all federal agencies to review their contracting procedures “to identify contracts that are wasteful, inefficient, or not otherwise likely to meet the agency’s needs, and to formulate appropriate corrective action in a timely manner.”  Obama’s memo on government contracting specifically mentioned the Defense Department.  With his declaration that “the days of giving defense contractors a blank check are over” and his directive that “inherently governmental activities… should not be outsourced,” Obama made clear that he intends to bring a new level of scrutiny to the Pentagon’s budget.  Secretary Gates had earlier prefigured this change in approach, saying that the “spigot that opened on 9/11… is closing.”  Finally, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget reiterated that the Obama administration regards reforming military procurement procedures not as a tradeoff with national security but rather as an opportunity to improve national security by assessing current threats and updating our weaponry to match those threats:  “We have just lived through an era of irresponsibility where taxpayer dollars were wasted and some of the biggest challenges we face were kicked down the road and not dealt with.  We can keep our people safe and our defense strong without all of this waste and inefficiency.”  [Barack Obama, 3/4/09.  Bob Gates, 1/27/09. Washington Independent, 3/5/09]

The Dalai Lama harshly condemned Chinese practices in Tibet on the 50th anniversary of the major Tibetan uprising.

A suicide bomber killed dozens at a reconciliation conference in Iraq.  Another suicide bombing killed at least 10 and wounded a government minister in Sri Lanka.

The Obama administration works on new trade rules, which emphasize environmental and labor concerns.

A policeman was shot dead in Northern Ireland, days after gunmen killed two British soldiers.

A Pakistani tribe with ties to the Taliban signed a cooperation pact with the government.  The government threatens to bring treason charges against Nawaz Sharif.

Vice President Joe Biden spoke with NATO leaders and urged increased efforts in Afghanistan, saying the situation there is “deteriorating.”  The U.S. halted some raids in Afghanistan over concerns of civilian deaths.

China claims that the U.S. incited yesterday’s naval incident.

Iranian presidential reform candidate Mohammad Khatami lost a critical backer, a former mayor of Tehran.

In the American Prospect, NSN Policy Director Ilan Goldenberg describes the Obama administration’s chess game in the Middle East.

Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama’s principal translator, writes of Tibet’s desire for autonomy, not independence.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, hopes that whatever financial system emerges from the economic crisis pays more attention to human beings than the recent interpretation of capitalism.

Andrew Keller applies counterinsurgency lessons from Laos to Afghanistan.

David Schenker urges the Obama administration to push for human rights in Syria.

Foreign Policy examines how building more weapons is the wrong approach to stimulating the economy.