Romney's foreign policy: Identical to Obama's?

On the eve of his world tour, the presumptive GOP nominee is blasting Obama's foreign policy record, but many say Romney's proposals are just more of the same

Mitt Romney
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

In a speech this week, Mitt Romney slammed Barack Obama's foreign policy record, saying that the president had "diminished American leadership" in the world and given comfort to enemies of the U.S. The broadside, which came as Romney began a European tour designed to burnish his own (limited) foreign policy credentials, offered few details on what Romney would do differently. No wonder, say critics, who charge that Romney's foreign policy agenda is virtually indistinguishable from Obama's. Adding fuel to the fire, Team Romney on Wednesday denied that an unnamed "adviser" had told Britain's The Telegraph that Romney appreciates the "Anglo-Saxon" heritage common to both countries better than Obama, a dubious report that nevertheless bolstered the perception that Romney is grasping at straws when it comes to differentiating himself from the president. Is Romney's foreign policy any different from Obama's?

Yes. A Romney presidency would shake things up: Romney's main foreign-policy difference lies in the "conviction that it is essential to project American power in the world," says Jennifer Rubin at The Washington Post. Whether he is labeling Russia as America's "most serious foe," taking China to task for "unfair trading practices," or confronting Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program, Romney "begins from an entirely different premise" from Obama: It is "U.S. power and values that make the world safer and more free."

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