From Bush’s Idealism to Obama’s Realism? (Today's Zaman, TURKEY)

When President George W. Bush entered office, he promised to follow a "realist's" foreign policy. His secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, was a student of Brent Scowcroft, who, together with Henry Kissinger, is an icon of American realpolitik.

Cheney, his vice president, was known as somebody who practiced such realism. Rice, like Scowcroft, was a strong believer in a balance of "power politics" and the need to prioritize American national interests above any idealistic vision based on morality, freedom or nation building. As Bush himself promised during the 2000 presidential election campaign, his administration wanted to follow a "humble foreign policy." And then Sept. 11 happened. The whole world turned upside down and realism was thrown out the window. Overnight, Bush turned into a Wilsonian idealist and embraced the "freedom agenda" as a cornerstone of his war on terrorism.

Now America is taking a sharp turn toward what appears to be realism again. President-elect Barack Obama has signaled that foreign affairs will not be his primary concern.

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