Foreign Policy: Where Do You Stand?

            If you haven’t seen the new film, Innocence of Muslims, spare yourself the 14 minutes of uncreative dialogue, horribly fake accents, and green-screen skills that would surely give Steven Spielberg a stroke and turn the news on instead. Fair warning: brace yourself, as you’re about to take a shocking, disheartening look at the anti-American wildfire that has spread worldwide in response to it. 

The past two weeks have been marked by tire burnings, enraged protesters, attacks on American embassies, and yes, even the loss of American lives. From Afghanistan to Indonesia, plumes of tear gas and smoke from flag burnings are rising higher than ever before and the unrest is borderline unmanageable. Why? This same film not only propagandizes Muslim life, but, more insensitively, mocks the life of the revered prophet of Islam, Mohammed.

One could dare argue that the violent response is disproportional to the film. However, whether or not this outrageous travesty justifies such a response from the Muslim world is superfluous. Why? Simply put, it IS happening. We may have been given an unfortunate hand, but it is the duty of our leaders to play the cards intelligently and responsibly.

Let’s take an abrupt U-turn and head back towards the United States. Let’s face it; this election has primarily pivoted around our failing economy and the eye-burning unemployment rate. However, the unrest abroad has highlighted a vital, and often underrated, forum in presidential elections: foreign policy. Talks about terrorism, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the role of our military have momentarily pushed our economic issues to the back burner of the rhetorical stove.

Fortunately, CNN has created a general outline of foreign policies according to each candidate (link below). In light of everything that is happening overseas, I think it is absolutely imperative for everyone to take a look into the foreign policies of both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, develop an educated, rational opinion, and take it with you into the voting booth on November 6^th.

Link: http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/17/where-obama-romney-stand-on-foreign-policy-challenges/?hpt=po_t1