fbpx
Politics Foreign Affairs Culture Fellows Program

Romney and Obama Have Genuinely Different Policies on Russia

The L.A. Times reports on the foreign policy similarities between Obama and Romney. Most of it is reliable, but the article goes off the rails near the end: Yet Russia represents another instance in which Romney and Obama don’t differ much, despite the rhetoric. I don’t know how one can write up a story on […]

The L.A. Times reports on the foreign policy similarities between Obama and Romney. Most of it is reliable, but the article goes off the rails near the end:

Yet Russia represents another instance in which Romney and Obama don’t differ much, despite the rhetoric.

I don’t know how one can write up a story on Romney’s efforts to differentiate himself from Obama and then fail to acknowledge that Russia policy is the one area where Romney has most consistently differentiated himself in significant ways. It’s also true that Russia policy is the area where Romney has done his best to make a fool of himself, and ideally that should be reflected in the story, too. Romney opposed the “reset” and everything it represented beginning three years ago, he made a point of opposing ratification of New START, and he has repeatedly stated that he would reverse the “reset” once in office. The implication is that he doesn’t like improved relations with Russia, he sees no need for them, and he would like to return to antagonizing and confronting Russia. There could hardly be a more noticeable, substantive difference between the two candidates than their respective positions on Russia policy, but it still sometimes receives the same treatment as their genuinely identical Syria policies or their very similar Iran policies.

Romney’s Russia policy really would be different. He has already broadcast his hostility to Russia on several occasions. Hawkish Republicans find that appealing, and almost everyone else does not, but it is a genuine difference that shouldn’t be papered over or dismissed as mere election-year gimmickry. The same applies to the war in Afghanistan and China policy, which are two more issues on which Romney claims to hold meaningfully different views from the incumbent. Romney would likely face many more constraints on Afghanistan or China, and continuing the war in Afghanistan indefinitely would prove to be politically dangerous for him. He would face no such constraints if he chose to wreck the relationship with Russia, and many members of his own party would cheer him if he did so.

Advertisement

Comments

The American Conservative Memberships
Become a Member today for a growing stake in the conservative movement.
Join here!
Join here