No Apology, by Gov. Mitt Romney (R, MA): on Foreign Policy
Barack Obama:
OpEd: American Apology Tour: disliking USA understandable
Pres. Obama is well on his way toward engineering a dramatic shift in American foreign policy. He envisions America as a nation whose purpose is to arbitrate disputes rather than to advocate ideals, a country consciously seeking equidistance between
allies and adversaries. Obama has positioned himself as a figure transcending America instead of defending America.This sentiment manifests itself in several different ways, including Pres. Obama's American Apology Tour. Never before in American
history has its president gone before so many foreign audiences to apologize for so many American misdeeds, both real and imagined. It is his ways of signaling that foreign dislike for America is something he understands and that is, at least in part,
understandable. There are anti-American fires burning all across the globe; Obama's words are kindling to them. In his first nine months in office, Obama has issued apologies and criticism of America in speeches in France, England, Turkey, and Cairo.
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p. 25
Mar 2, 2010
Barack Obama:
OpEd: overseeing smooth decline into post-superpower status
President Obama's presupposition is that America is in a state of inevitable decline. He seems to believe that we have entered the "post-American world." The perspective is shared by many in the foreign policy cognoscenti, and apparently by the president
himself. He therefore sees his task as somehow managing that decline, making the transition to post-superpower status as smooth as possible, helping Americans understand and adjust to their new circumstances.
In his response to a question about whether he believed in "American exceptionalism"--a phrase that indicates America has a special place and role in the world--he replied, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as
I suspect the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." Which is another way of saying he doesn't believe it at all.
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p. 28-29
Mar 2, 2010
Colin Powell:
We do not seek conquest or colonies
After WWII, visionary leaders set out to help create a new international order with the US in the permanent lead not as a neutral actor in world affairs but as the protector and defender of a particular world order. This was not an expression of American
jingoism. The US has never wanted to impose itself on the world. As Gen. Powell noted, we do not seek conquest or colonies. We seek our own safety and, insofar as possible, the chance for other people to live in freedom. So the president and the leaders
of both parties shifted America's foreign policy. America took on the task of anticipating, containing, and eventually defeating threats to the progress of freedom in the belief that actively protecting others was the best way to protect ourselves.The
new order had three pillars: active involvement and participation in world affairs; active promotion of American and Western values including democracy, free enterprise, and human rights; and a collective security umbrella for America and her allies.
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p. 23
Mar 2, 2010
Mitt Romney:
In long term, Chinese reforms lead to demanding freedom
The strategy pursued by China is based on free enterprise. Unlike the West, it is also based on authoritarian rule. On its face the strategy is contradictory: the oppression of an authoritarian regime that severely limits individual freedoms must surely
stifle entrepreneurship and enterprise. The conflict is so apparent that many Western observers have predicted that as China`s economy and trade develop, the country will trend toward democracy and freedom. China's leaders see things quite differently
They believe that the economic vitality produced by free enterprise, combined with the stability and vision of wise leaders, unaffected by popular whim, creates the winning strategy. Autocracies of the twentieth century were often wedded to socialism;
its abject economic failure doomed these governments. But China is banking that having embraced a form of free enterprise, their autocratic future will be very different than their past failures.
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p. 13-14
Mar 2, 2010
Mitt Romney:
Post-WWII role: defeat threats to progress of freedom
At the end of World War II, the US executed a dramatic and profoundly meaningful shift in our relationship with the rest of the world. After a long tradition of guarding our own hemisphere while deliberately attempting to stay isolated from the affairs o
Europe and Asia, the US found itself the greatest single power amidst a world in chaos and disrepair. Visionary leaders set out to help create a new international order with the US in the permanent lead So the president and the leaders of both parties
shifted America's foreign policy. America took on the task of anticipating, containing, and eventually defeating threats to the progress of freedom in the belief that actively protecting others was the best way to protect ourselves.
Broadly construed,
the new order had three pillars: active involvement and participation in world affairs; active promotion of American and Western values including democracy, free enterprise, and human rights; and a collective security umbrella for America and her allies.
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p. 23
Mar 2, 2010
Mitt Romney:
American Exceptionalism means America need not decline
In a world composed of nations that are filled with rage and hate for the US, our president should proudly defend her rather than continually apologize for her. I reject the view that America must decline. I believe in American exceptionalism. I am
convinced that we can act together to strengthen the nation, to preserve our global leadership, and to protect freedom where it exits and promote it where it does not. What is ahead of us now will not be easy. It will be difficult to overcome the
challenges we face, to maintain our national strength and purpose even as China, Russia, and the jihadists pursue their own ambitions. It will be difficult to repair the damage from the economic panic of 2008 and the intemperate actions that have been
justified as steps to remedy it. I don't worry about our ability to overcome any problem or threat. But I do wonder whether we will take this action that is timely, and that we will act before the necessary correction is massively disruptive.
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p. 29&33
Mar 2, 2010
Mitt Romney:
Different countries' paths to decline came from isolation
The Ottoman Empire spanned 700 years. But while Europe embarked on the early stages of manufacturing, the Ottomans did not. The Ottomans' growing isolation was reinforced by the conviction that their holy scriptures provided all the knowledge that was
necessary.Like the Ottomans, the Spanish and Portuguese achieved wealth through plunder, and then shut their borders--and their minds--to innovation, technology, and learning.
China declined [because] as ships from foreign lands docked in their
ports, the Chinese feared cultural contamination. China's cultural and economic isolation continued in the 20th century: Mao saw learning and innovation as threats.
By 1860, Britain's economy was the biggest in the world, But whereas other
nations embraced new technology, Britain reversed course and tried to contain it.
The different countries' paths of decline [all included] isolation; most important, isolation from knowledge. This is a lesson that shouldn't be lost on us.
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p. 37-41
Mar 2, 2010
Mitt Romney:
National turnaround requires leadership; consensus; strength
Throughout history, there have been fortuitous reversals of national decline. One or more of four conditions or catalysts have been present when corrective action was successfully undertaken.- The occurrence of a catastrophic event that is
alarming enough to spur action but not so large that it dooms the nation.
- The presence of a great leader--a person of uncommon vision, political courage, statesmanship, and persuasiveness.
- National consensus, spurred by either crisis or national
leaders
- The final conducive condition for turnaround is when a nation enjoys deep, broad-based national strength--a productive and inventive economy, an educated and entrepreneurial population, and an extensive bench of able leaders.
The lessons
from past powers can inform our prospects for preserving America's place in the world. The good news is that America possesses the qualities that have allowed great nations in the past to reverse course and to overcome challenges.
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p. 47-49
Mar 2, 2010
Page last updated: Feb 19, 2019