Foreign Policy not a big topic in G.O.P. race

The discussion of foreign policy has been in the background throughout the Republican campaigns in the 2012 elections. Many candidates have not discussed their plans for conducting foreign policy if they are elected. Domestic policy has taken over the entire campaign addressing the economy and jobs. Mitt Romney and John Huntsman have been the leaders in the discussion. Romney has been the first to conduct his address on the topic. Romney plans to strengthen the United States military and improve relationships with Israel, Britain and Mexico. Romney calls his plan “American Century”. He debated that Obama had weakened Americas image as a strong nation, and claims that he will create “the strongest nation on earth”. However, he did not include a plan on how he will deal with US occupation in Afghanistan. John Huntsman has not formally addressed his foreign policy plans, but he claims that compared to the other candidates he has the strongest foreign policy background. Huntsman was ambassador for china and can speak Mandarin. He believes that foreign policy should be a major discussion in the campaign given the world we are living in now. Most republicans want to eventually withdraw troops because we don’t have enough money to spend on war, and our money should be focused at home. No candidates have commented on the Arab Spring.

“If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on earth, I am not your president,” Mr. Romney said. “You have that president today.”

Throughout the Republican campaigns, certain topics have dominated including the economy, jobs and federalism. While these are important issues, discussions of foreign policy need to be more prevalent in the campaign. It has been agreed by all candidates that we are spending too much money on war, but that is what is mostly being talked about among the candidates. Huntsman stated that we need to focus more on foreign policy because of the world that we live in. We currently live in a world where our economies are interconnected throughout the globe. Globalization is specific to our time, and if our economy is such a huge issue, where do other countries come into play? If we don’t have enough jobs at home, who is discussing China or India’s major impact of our economy? American industry is suffering extremely due to globalization. Foreign Policy is becoming much less foreign in this day and age. Candidates should be focused on these issues in addition to the ongoing disputes on how to fix our receding economy and low job opportunities. Huntsman said that not many Americans have been listening on the topic of foreign policy. Lack of Americans interest may be the reason for its lack of discussion, but hopefully more candidates will join Romney and Huntsman in the discussion.

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CNN reports on Romney's Foreign Policy