Speech
The Challenges of American Foreign Policy
Aspen Strategy Group's U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue - September 16, 2007
James B. Steinberg, Dean, LBJ School of Public Affairs
Thank you for the opportunity to speak this morning. This is a very timely moment to discuss the core challenges facing the United States as we move toward an election year in which foreign policy and national security promise to play central roles in the choices facing American voters. In modern history, only a few Presidential elections have focused on national security issues – in 1968 and 1972, at the height of the Vietnam War, and in 1952, in the middle of the Korean War. Unlike those earlier elections, the focus this time will not be primarily on Asia, but rather on the Middle East and the US approach to its global role and responsibilities. Although the election debate is unlikely to focus directly on the issues which are paramount to the mind of this audience, they will have broad ramifications for US grand strategy for years to come, and therefore will have an important impact on India, on our bilateral relationship, and throughout Asia.
The importance of this election in shaping US national security is not simply a function of the intensity of the debate over the future of the United States role in Iraq. Rather, it comes from a convergence of factors, both domestic and international, that promise to make this election a watershed. On the political front, this is the first election since 1952 in which neither an incumbent President nor Vice President will be on the ballot. That means that for both major political parties, there will be an intense internal political debate during the primary season, as well as the more typical contest in the general election. The “wide-open” character of the election is further enhanced by the very low popularity of the incumbent administration, arguably the lowest in modern American Presidency.
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