That theyre talking talking about the the same guy. His critics say hes weakkneed. The president s defenders say he ran getting the u. S. Out of iraq and information. Did one and is well on his way to the second. He promised he would be far more selective about the use of American Military power in the world, and there are no american casualties from syria, libya or the black sea. There have been no military airstrikes on irans suspected nuclear program, and iran has come to the negotiating table. His speech to graduates at the military academy of west point rests on two main pillars, the United States remains the indispensable nation, and there is not a military solution to every problem. The question we face, the question each of you will face is not whether america will lead but how we will lead. Not only to secure our peace and prosperity, but across the globe. Reporter president obama told thousand was a cadets dressed in uniform that america must always lead and military is backbone of that leadership. U. S. Military action cannot be the only or even primary component of our leadership in every instance. Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail. Reporter thou the United States forces are out of iraq and the military commitment in afghanistan will end by the end of 2016, the president emphasi emphasized the lessons of 9 11 remains with us. I believe we must shift our counterterism strategy drawing on the successes and shortcomi shortcomings in iraq and afghanistan to effectively partner where terrorists seek a foot hold. Reporter he will ask congress for 5 billion to create a Counter Terrorism Partnership Fund. Support Peace Keeping in somalia and libya and assist french operations in mali. Now we need to make sure that those nations who provide peace keepers that they can actually keep the peace. Well deepen our investment in countries that support these peacekeeping missions. Having other nations maintain order in their own neighborhoods lessens the need for us to put troops in harms way. Its a smart investment. Its the right way to lead. Reporter mr. Obamas speech brought distracter on the right and left saying that it comes with squishy lines and with little effect. Some would like to see an airstrike against syria after Bashar Alassad gassed civilians last year and crossed the president s own red lines. I made a decision that we should not put american troops in the middle of this increasingly sectarian war. I believe that is the right decision. Reporter others complain that a lack of potent military support has let the situation boil out of control to assad s benefit. The president said hell run for reelection next month. And distracters to russian president Vladimir Putin and ukraine, and obamas repeated warnings are not an effective deterrent. President obama strongly rejected that notion. Our ability to shape World Opinion helped to isolate russia right away. The world immediately condemned russian action, and this served as a cut away to russian propaganda and Russian Troops on the border and armed militias in ski masks. But standing with our allies on behalf of international wor order, has give the ukrainian people to choose their future. Without us firing a shot. Reporter the president s speech at west point a trip next week to g7 meetings, and a visit to poland are all meant to bolster ties to europe as well as change the narrative and move Public Opinion to his direction as it pertains to Foreign Policy. If 20 or 30 years now historians speculate on an obama doctrine, was the west point speech its template . Selective use of force, corporation with allies, nonmilitary means for settling conflict until there is no other way to go. Thats our focus this time on inside story. Joining us for that conversation here in washington, john bradshaw, director of the National Security network. And christian whiten, president of the hamilton foundation. He served in the george w. Bush state department, and professor of American School of international service, and the author of the end of American World order. John bradshaw, let me start with you, looking at the speech, hearing the president laying out and explaining it today, was it a departure or a reiteration . I think it was time for the president to try to draw together a lot of things that have been done in Foreign Policy that he has not gotten credit for. He was taking a lot of hits, a lot of criticism from conservatives in congress, and it was time to explain more his approach. I dont think its a great departure. It does explain in detail exactly what circumstances will require the use of force and when we will use diplomacy. In that sense i think it was useful in helping people understand what the administration was doing, but it did not really depart where they have been over the last few years. So a refinement, then . Refinement is one way to put at it. A better articulation of what theyre trying to do. Christian whiten, what did you make of it . Was it all of the peace . Was it things that the president has said before, or did it take you some place new . No, i think its a common thing you see in year six of a presidency which is a search for a legacy in trying to stitch together things that have been done heretofore even though they were not part of a strategy. That i would say is one of the big problems of this speech that differed from other president ial addresses at west point or other speeches that were billed at big policy speeches where he didnt talk about the threats to the world today. Was russia being unhelpful and west africa, things like that. But no clear delynn nation of what the tools are to craft them. What are the big threats that were left out of the president s speech . I would say the big ones are iran and its nuclear program, but also its political sub version throughout the middle east. And china with its aggression against all of its maritime neighbors and cyber aggression against the u. S. And these the islamist ideal that wants to unify mosque and state and an mates all terrorists, whether theyre shiab or alqaeda. Professor, i dont want to put you in position for speaking to the other 7 billion people on the planet, but you do think about that as part of your economic specialty. How does that speech look like from outside of the United States . I think there will be disappointment and disagreement. Let me say what i think the disagreement is going to be about. I think the selective use of force will be very useful, and as john said its nothing new. But the media based on the White House Leaks had set up an expectation that there would be a rebought here. We really didnt see a rebought here. The president says very uniformly that the United States must, all this lead in the world. Because if it didnt, no one else would. I think a lot of people diswe with that. The chinese, the indians, the South Africans would disagree with that. They would like to see the United Statesnobody objects that the u. S. Lead. But they cannot lead. People would object to that. It requires forces. Weve seen in many cases where the u. S. Could not lead. So i think of people that u. S. Will lead in some areas, and let others lead in other areas. Including like india and china. We didnt say that. To say that if we dont lead nobody else will, i think that comes down to an arrogant well, he was talking about the future of the United States military. But is there a country as prepared as the United States is to make a difference anywhere on planet earth where there is a problem. Yes, leadership doesnt have to be in every area. So soon china will be the number one economy in the world. There are countries, including american allies, which are merely providing leadership like australia on environment, climate change. India creating multiry level constitutions. I think 9 thing for the u. S. To do is to help lead. Im not in favor of trying to do everything ourselves. What we should do is lead where we have key national interests. You see in asia what it looks like without u. S. Leadership and without a navy we keep talking about and a profit to asia that is happening. Meanwhile beijing can see what is happening with our military , and everyone is scared including countries that you would not automatically assume would want the u. S. Around like vietnam. Youre seeing a bit in the middle east, and when there is a withdraw of u. S. Leadership, its not always a good outcome because you have people cutting deals with the bad actors in the region. Case in point that have is some of the erratic behavior weve seen from had hamid karzai. Wasnt he also making the point that sometimes it is the United States, because it isnt anybody else . Exactly. I think he was talking about a new kind of american leadership. I think it would be great and the President Administration would love to see some of these other countries that were mentioned stepping up whether its india, brazil , or some of these other countries to take a role on the world stage. But theyre not interested in doing that. We need to pull those countries together, and one being mutual and shared responsibility without the u. S. Playing a leading role. We saw that with ukraine and russia. The u. S. Had to push the e. U. And others to take actions, sanctions, and economic actions that have pushed the russian economy on its heel. Well take a short break and when we come back well talk about whether this statement of american principles is more of the times when you talk to rank and File Americans rather than Foreign Policy intellectuals. This is inside story. Al Jazeera America presents the system with Joe Burlinger the dna testing shows that these are not his hairs unreliable forensics the problem the bureaus got is they fail, its a big, big deal. Convicted of unspeakable crimes did flawed lab work take away their freedom . I was 18 when i went in. When i came out i was 50. You dont get it back. Shocking truths revealed the system with Joe Burlinger only on al Jazeera America weekday mornings on al Jazeera America we do have breaking news this morning. Start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. First hand reporting from across the country and real news keeping you up to date. The big stories of the day, from around the world. These people need help, this is were the worst of the attack took place. And throughout the morning, get a global perspective on the news. The life of doha. This is the International News hour. An informed look on the nights events, a smarter start to your day. Mornings on al Jazeera America welcome back to inside story. Im ray suarez. President obama says for the foreseeable future the most direct threat of america home and abroad remains terrorism and calls on congress to fund a 5 billion Partnership Fund to train and equipment countries on the front lines giving the United States flex ability to fulfill different missions. Partnership was a big theme in his Foreign Policy speech. Christian whiten, more partner than leader. Is that appropriate to where the American Peoples heads are at at this time . Maybe they dont want to be chosen by history and fulfill every mission after a very, very active, expensive, and tragic in many ways ten yearsplus abroad. Well, i think the American People are very fatigued with open ended military commitment its especially where there is no clear strategy. The American People did not support the mission in libya because it was unclear how that would play out, and it was odd to be bombing a nation on behalf or against a government and incumbent government but also to be supplying arms to those on the Ground Fighting against that incumbent government. If you given the American People a clear reason, and if they perceive its actual interest, same with russia and same with iran, i think whats really politically appealing at this point would be a coherent strategy for the judicial use of the american power. Not just the military. As Just Announced today. 5 billion. We spend several billion dollars every year for military funds, and its unclear how this is that different. When christian whiten talks about syria, for instance, is that one of those extoe fact toe moment where is it may become clear eventually who the best people to help were, but when the decision had to be made it wasnt that clear . Well, i think the president , or even in your introductions with the president establishing his own red line and it was an internationally declared red life just to clarify that, what we saw with the public and congressional rejection of any action in syria last september of a year ago, that the war weariness hadwe had overlearned the lessons of iraq and afghanistan, and the public and the military are wary of any military action. Because of backlash against policies of the Bush Administration there was not support for it. And i thought it was a striking moment in the speech today when the president talked about the fact that the graduate was not have to go into combat into iraq and afghanistan. They applauded. Its not just the American Public who are war weary, the military it is is weary itself. Professor, its interesting when i talk to people in other parts of the world, they both want america to be active, to punish bad guys and help good guys. Then when they do, if they dont like the outcome, if they dont like the manner in which it was handled, they reserve the right to complain of american overreach bullying, excessive use of force and so on. It seems like its hard to get it right in the eyes of the rest of the world. Thats right. Thats the problem when youre doing too many things in too many places. The way to address the problem, and he mentioned international institutions. He talked about how institutions are important, imf, n. A. T. O. In american interests. These cannot be isolationists but we know some of the constitutions are usingactually getting a bit out of date. They dont reflect global power shift like the u. N. Security council, for instance. I would have liked to have seen more meat, more substance in the president s speech how the institutions would have been affected. Thats what i meantime by sharing leadership. The u. S. Should lead but not in every area, but it should lead through others and use institutions to its advantages. Thats what i didnt see in the speech, but maybe because it was geared towards National Security and to get American Public to accept that the United States must have an international role, it must not retreat into isolationism. I agree, the International Community bearing a few exception like north korea or others would agree. Even the chinese would agree that the United States should not be isolationists. Maybe in their backyard but not globally. Get involved everywhere else, not just not where were interested in. Thats what many countries would have to say. Let me say, that president obama did not mention rebalancing, which is a lot of people in asia have been following. Theyre wondering this is a major part of the Foreign Policy and it was not highlighted. But christian whiten was just in japan, korea and m malaysia, where he goes and what he says matters, too, not just the speech at west point. Yes, he was in afghanistan and did not bother to stop in india why you have the inauguration of narendra modi, the first right of center minister, and major change in a country of major importance. But this is someone who is estranged completely from president obama. No relationship at all. And president obama didnt assure any of our allies. He said he was going to, but if you talk to diplomat s to those countries and others they are not sure that we have a concrete plan. Even secretary kerry has backed off of that. There is no change of u. S. Policy. Going back to the politics issue the American People expect the president to explain how were going to deal with the threat, for example, from a rising russia before it turns into an european war because we have a zero percent success rate of avoiding wars in the last century and a half. Lack of clarity, more slogan than substance . Generally i would have to agree with that, the rebalancing to asia is still a work in progress. I think a lot more needs to be done. The administration is still committed to it, but the writ rick has outpaced the reality of it. I think we have a lot of issues have been addressed well with whats happening in russia and ukraine. First of all. Its really a regional problem. I think the president was very wise to put it in that perspective. To take actions that would contain that from turning it into a widening war and recognizing at the same time that there was no direct extension threat to the u. S. Like there used to be to the cold war in russia. Putting threats in perspective. Same with alqaeda. Affiliates of al quit quite arel a threat. We have to determine if they are a threat to the u. S. Or a threat to their own countries. In which case i can provide support and training but not to inflate the threat. Well take a short break. When we come back well talk a few minutes about what the American People want their country to do in the rest of the world. This is inside story. Stay with us. Welcome back to inside story. Im ray suarez. President obama told west point graduates america remains the indispensable nation. But what do the American People think about Foreign Policy . What do they want their country to be in the rest of the world . Professor, you teach students who want to make this their lifes work, theyll be our Foreign Policy leaders some day, what do they think of what we should be doing abroad . Well, i can today from experience that most want the country to be engaged, but in a responsible way. Like any citizen, they dont want to pay too much. They dont want to bear the burden that is just one sided. They want the burden to be shared. So in that case, i didnt see any sign of isolationism among the younger generation, but i think they need a good explanation, and where american interests lie, and what is in the best interest of the United States. They want the leaders to be recognized, respected, but also responsible so the country doesnt end up paying too much of the price. Christian whiten, same question . I think the American People are extremely wary in afghanistan in particular because there is no clear mission. Well go from 9800 troops down to zero. If were going to do that, lets go to zero today. How awful would it b to be the last american killed when they know that was what we have done. We are not the solution to everyone. We dont want to be the worlds police, but there are times to rise to occasion, again, not first with military force, but one thing that obamas 43 predecessors have in common is they viewed the military as a last resort. If you ask the American People what do you think of the chinas rise. They dont believe that iran wants to come in from the cold. I think you have a healthy wariness on behalf of the American People. I agree with what both of my colleagues have said. As far as the president s speech we didnt focus on was he didnt touch on human rights and democracy. Americans want to see their values reflected overseas. I was disappointed that was not fleshed out more, but i suspect that Samantha Power will give a speech in the next few days or weeks that will focus on what that means in the over all Foreign Policy. Isnt that somewhat out of style in 2014 . To be soft hearted . I dont believe so. Ive spent my career working on civil rights. What happens in those countries with f there is an auto cratic regime that has longterm negative impacts on our security. To my guests, thank you all very much. That brings us to the end of this edition of inside story. Thanks for joining us. The program may be over but the discussion conditions. Log on to our Facebook Page or send you had your thoughts on twitter. In washington, im ray suarez. Announcer this is al jazeera. Hello, welcome to the newshour. Im Martine Dennis in doha. These are the top stories the taliban releases a u. S. Soldier in return for five of its leaders in a deal brokered by qatar. Back behind the cage the trial of three al jazeera journalists resumes in cairo. China hits back slamming the u. S
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