Stuart DJ. Schwartzstein-The Obama Administration's Foreign Policy, Is It What Was Expected?

On March 31, 2009, during the Rumi Forum Luncheon Series, independent consultant, Stuart J. D. Schwartzstein, gave a timely lecture which discussed President Obama's present and future dealings with American Foreign Policy. With the end of the Bush administration came enormous expectations as to how President Obama would carry out foreign policy with the rest of the world. Schwartzstein noted that the "Bush Doctrine" dealt with the rest of the world in a manner that was considered disrespectful and arrogant, especially with the Middle East. Thus far, President Obama has taken a new angle on carrying out foreign policy.

Mr. Schwartzstein discussed how Obama is handling relations with countries such as China, Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia and also the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. In addition, he is hopeful that President Obama will be able to mend fences between the U.S. and the Arab and Muslim World partially due to his connection to Indonesia, the world's most populated Muslim country. Schwartzstein also spoke of the president's attempts to re-establish diplomatic ties with countries such as Cuba, Syria, and Iran. When asked to rate the president on a scale of 1-10 in relation to Obama's foreign policy dealings thus far, Schwartzstein gave Obama the high rating of an 8 or 9. Overall, Schwartzstein believes that Obama will approach foreign policy pragmatically through establishing and maintaining alliances. The talk was ended with a sense of hope for the next era of American Foreign Policy.