Today the US government is up to its nose in debt, which will put Obama's domestic and foreign policies in a suffocating bind. How else can he free the US from all this except undergoing strategic adjustments?
As Obama said in his campaign speeches and published articles as well as the Democratic Party's guiding principles, his administration will probably make the following strategic adjustments:
Return to multilateralism. Unilateralism is a fundamental characteristic of the "Bush doctrine", which believes in launching preemptive strikes against what it calls "axis of evil" states and make regime change there, with the war on Iraq as a test of this singular obsession.
But, the neo-conservatives had lost their charm and been marginalized by the time Bush entered the second term of his presidency. The Obama administration will bring multilateralism back and handle various regional as well as global issues by relying on the United Nations, international mechanisms and cooperation with the international community.
Pull the US military out of Iraq and focus on counter-terrorist actions in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Obama promised time and again during the election campaign that he would get all US combat troops out of Iraq within 16 months once he takes office as the next US president.
Given the country's current economic condition, the Iraq War-related spending should be the first to lose weight in order to achieve budgetary balance. That's why Obama is expected to honor this particular promise and he will, though he is also obligated to ensure Iraq's security after the US military leaves no matter how challenging that will be.
Obama will send more US soldiers to Afghanistan while proceeding with the pullout from Iraq. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said he is willing to negotiate with the Taliban forces and Obama has not ruled that possibility out.
The real thorny issue in that part of Asia is Pakistan, which suffers from serious domestic instability. Obama said during the election campaign that he might order cross-border strikes from Afghanistan at al-Qaida bases believed hidden in Pakistan's northwestern region. His words triggered a diplomatic spat as the Pakistani government protested strongly against such blatant disregard of its sovereignty.
It will be a very daunting task for Obama to hit al-Qaida hard without stepping on Pakistan's toe while helping the South Asian nation maintain stability.
Improve relations with Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). An important condition for resolving the Iran and DPRK nuclear issues is for the US to first improve its relations with the two countries. The nuclear issues will be very hard to solve as long as serious lack of mutual confidence exists between the US and these two nations.
Obama has stated clearly Iran's possession of nuclear arms is unacceptable, but he might be willing to handle the US-Iran and US-DPRK relations in a more pragmatic and flexible manner than his predecessor did. The possibility that Obama will improve bilateral ties with either or both should not be ruled out.
