President Barack Obama does not wake up worrying about nuclear weapons or terrorist attacks. His cares tend to trend toward domestic matters.
This assessment of the president’s mindset came from John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under former President George W. Bush, who says the lack of a national debate on foreign policy has only allowed America’s enemies to grow stronger.
The George Washington Forum and Alexander Hamilton Society jointly sponsored the event more than 200 people attended in Walter Hall Rotunda on Monday night.
“We gather here thinking about what happened in Boston today. We don’t know for sure who committed this terrorist attack ... but we do know from the death and destruction that is caused that the world remains a very dangerous place,” Bolton said. “There are a couple reasons for (lack of a debate on foreign policy): one is the president of the U.S. and the other is the Republican Party.”
Nuclear proliferation, the global war on terror, protection of allies and preemptively heading off enemy threats were some of the policy topics Bolton said there needs to be a debate about in the U.S.
Without a debate, Americans will lose sight of the international threats to the homeland, Bolton said.
?“I think it has been clear since 1945 that America’s nuclear weapons and system of alliances has been the strongest force for order in the world that we’ve seen,” Bolton said.
He added that if the U.S. stops fulfilling that role, other countries not interested in American interests will take our spot protecting them.
“The more we don’t devote adequate resources to our national security, the deeper the hole we’ll have to climb out of when we wake up and see how threatening the world has be- come.”
Robert Ingram, director of the forum and a history professor at Ohio University, was ecstatic with the response to Bolton’s talk.
?“There was a substantive debate. You could see that in the questions,” Ingram said. “The more exchanges there are like this, the better it will be for our country. We don’t have experience, especially students, dealing with people whom they fundamentally disagree with.”
A frank and sometimes controversial event can be beneficial for a campus that is often set on a one-track mindset, Ingram said.
“(He brought) a unique view- point to our campus,” said Allison Arnold, co-president of the Hamilton Society and a senior student trustee. “It is interesting to bring someone to our campus who has real world experience.”
dd195710@ohiou.edu
