The war in Iraq has grown increasingly unpopular at home, and it continues to be unpopular abroad. [The BBC World Service broadcast a fantastic documentary about how the US-lead war in Iraq changed the world's mind on the US].
So what do the US Presidential candidates propose to do about it? Spencer Ackerman investigated this question with a coterie of Obama's foreign policy advisors for an in-depth article published this week in The American Prospect magazine. Here's the line-up of Obama foreign policy advisors:
"[They] come from diverse backgrounds. They are former aides to Democratic mandarins like Tom Daschle and Lee Hamilton (Denis McDonough and Ben Rhodes, respectively); veterans of the Clinton administration's left flank ([Anthony] Tony Lake and Susan Rice); a human-rights advocate who helped write the Army's and Marine Corps’ much-lauded counterinsurgency field manual (Sarah Sewall); a retired general who helped run the air war during the invasion of Iraq (Scott Gration); and a former journalist who revolutionized the study of U.S. foreign policy (Samantha Power). Yet they form a committed, intellectually coherent, and surprisingly united foreign-affairs team. (Shortly before this piece went to press, Power resigned from the campaign after making an intemperate remark to a reporter.)"
And here's Ackerman's executive summary on his interviews with these advisors: "They envision a doctrine that first ends the politics of fear and then moves beyond a hollow, sloganeering “democracy promotion” agenda in favor of “dignity promotion,” to fix the conditions of misery that breed anti-Americanism and prevent liberty, justice, and prosperity from taking root. An inextricable part of that doctrine is a relentless and thorough destruction of al-Qaeda. Is this hawkish? Is this dovish? It's both and neither — an overhaul not just of our foreign policy but of how we think about foreign policy. And it might just be the future of American global leadership."
I highly recommend reading the full article. As Ackerman reminds us, it's important to pay attention to who the Presidential candidate choose as his/her foreign policy advisors: "When considering any presidential hopeful's foreign-policy promises, it's important to remember that what candidates say is, at best, an imperfect guide to their actions in office. What proves to be a more reliable indicator of presidential behavior is a candidate's roster of advisers."