Foreign Policy Blogs

VP Debate: Foreign Policy Questions

VP Debate
This is a follow-up post to last week's post about the Vice Presidential debate, more of an experiment really. I thought it would be interesting to go back to the transcript and review the foreign policy topics that were covered and then separate out the replies from each candidate so they could be more easily compared. I’ve posted the replies from each candidate as comments, please click the comment link below to see the replies from Biden and Palin to the foreign policy questions posed by the moderator.

One thing that did strike me upon my close reading of the transcript was how poorly constructed some of the questions were. For example, on the question of U.S intervention and nuclear weapons, it was not clear to me if the moderator was asking when the U.S. should intervene to prevent the use of nuclear weapons or what events should trigger a U.S. nuclear response. To compensate for this I’ve listed the questions thematically, more like general topic areas than detailed questions.

 

Author

Joel Davis

Joel Davis is the Director of Online Services at the International Studies Association in Tucson, Arizona. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona, where he received his B.A. in Political Science and Master's degree in International Relations. He has lived in the UK, Italy and Eritrea, and his travels have taken him to Canada, Brazil, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Greece.

Follow U.S. Role on Twitter: @FPAUSRole
Follow Joel on Twitter: @joeladavis

Areas of Focus:
State Department; Diplomacy; US Aid; and Alliances.

Contact Joel by e-mail at [email protected].