Open domestic-international thread
I’m still on vacation — did anything of note happen over the weekend? Oh, I see: "probably the biggest thing to become law in 50 years." Well, so long as no one is engaging in hyperbole. I have nothing to say about the content of the health care bill, but I do wonder whether there ...
I'm still on vacation -- did anything of note happen over the weekend?
I’m still on vacation — did anything of note happen over the weekend?
Oh, I see: "probably the biggest thing to become law in 50 years." Well, so long as no one is engaging in hyperbole.
I have nothing to say about the content of the health care bill, but I do wonder whether there will be any positive or negative foreign policy externalities. FP’s Joshua Keating provided one humorous example of how the passage of the bill can reframe the Obama narrative on foreign policy in a positive way.
On the other hand, Shadow Government’s Dan Blumenthal correctly points out the ways in which Obama neglected foreign policy during the run-up to the bill’s passage. This is not surprising — presidents turn their fortunes around through domestic accomplishments and revived economic growth, not foreign policy achievements — but it’s a reality that Obama needs to confront going forward.
The one thing health care passage might do for Obama is add a dollop of respect for Obama’s political acumen among other world leaders. Obama just got the #1 Democratic policy concern written into law after a year of long, drawn-out negotiations, and that’s not nothing. Allied leaders might be more willing to give the Obama administration the benefit of the doubt when dealing with long, drawn-out international negotiations.
What do you think?
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner
More from Foreign Policy

Saudi-Iranian Détente Is a Wake-Up Call for America
The peace plan is a big deal—and it’s no accident that China brokered it.

The U.S.-Israel Relationship No Longer Makes Sense
If Israel and its supporters want the country to continue receiving U.S. largesse, they will need to come up with a new narrative.

Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War
Moscow is grasping for meaning in a meaningless invasion.

How China’s Saudi-Iran Deal Can Serve U.S. Interests
And why there’s less to Beijing’s diplomatic breakthrough than meets the eye.