Checking Walt's Stats

Posted By Marc Lynch Friday, July 30, 2010 - 7:02 PM

My esteemed colleague Steve Walt writes today that Obama is in trouble for 2012 in part because he's "0 for 4 on the big ticket items that have defined his foreign policy agenda." I've got to disagree. There may be no full-scale successes yet --- as if anybody thought Obama could solve the world's problems in a year and half --- but he's actually doing far better than Walt suggests. Specifically, I'd largely agree with Walt on Afghanistan and Israel-Palestine, but both Iraq and Iran are more likely to be winners than losers. Beyond that, though, Obama will gain in stature by comparison with the lunacy currently dominating the Republican political establishment --- which will likely only escalate as the political season develops and every GOP wannabe tries to outbid on the crazy.

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