Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – A return of Republicans to a majority in the House of Representatives is weakening the foreign policy influence of President Barack Obama, according to political commentators.
Obama pledged to rethink policies with foreign countries that traditionally have been U.S. adversaries after he was elected president.
Commentators and analysts in some of those countries now are wondering whether Obama has the political support to accomplish his goals.
In Indonesia, a Jakarta Post editorial said, “It is sad to see that optimism and hope that accompanied his election two years ago as the first African-American president – and one who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia – is disappearing. His promise to change U.S.’s divisive politics never really took off although he gave his best shot with his health care reform bill. U.S. politics is back to where they have always been, highly polarized.”
In Saudi Arabia, an Arab Post editorial said the midterm elections would make it even more difficult for Obama to live up to expectations.
“Here in the Arab world, the letdown is felt principally by Obama’s failure to deliver on assurances made in his seemingly ground-breaking speech in Cairo on June 29 last year. Now 17 months on, nothing has changed. The revived peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis seem doomed as Israelis continue to build illegal settlements … [and] despite major insults to his administration, Obama has not reined in the Israelis by cutting off the purse strings.”
In Israel, an editorial in the tabloid Yedioth Ahronoth said, “The outcome of the election repudiates Obama’s policies and dramatically erodes his political clout.”
The Israelis have been especially critical of Obama’s opposition to their expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
“The outcome of the midterm election has reconfirmed that the U.S. is indeed The Center-to-Right Nation, which has always been pro-Israel,” the Israeli tabloid said.
However, other commentators say it is too soon to believe Obama has been rendered powerless by the Republican victories in the House.
In the United Kingdom, the Guardian newspaper said the midterm elections could help Obama’s re-election chances.
“When Democrats were in sole control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, there was nobody to blame for the country’s woes but Democrats (memories are too short to recall the Bush era that ended centuries ago in 2008),” a Guardian editorial said. “With Republicans now partly at the helm, the blame can be spread around.”
The president’s power over foreign policy is shared with key congressional committees on international affairs and the armed services.
Some of the biggest changes are likely on the House Armed Services Committee.
The committee is chaired by Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) but he lost his seat to Republican Vicky Hartzler, a former Missouri legislator. Skelton is known for being hawkish on the U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Other Democrats known for supporting military priorities who lost in the election include Rep. Glenn Nye (D-Va.); Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.); Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) and the House Armed Services Committee’s second ranking member, Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.).
Policy changes also are expected with the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the international affairs budget.
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), the subcommittee’s chairwoman, held onto her seat in Congress but will be challenged to hold on to her subcommittee chair.
Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), the subcommittee’s ranking member, said she plans to unseat her Democratic colleague. Granger is known for supporting foreign aid but advocating strict control over the budget.
View full post on All Stories