Obama's State of the Union address

“Obama’s State of the Union: More foreign than before”

By: Andrew T. Wolff

Source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/01/24/obamas-state-of-the-union-more-foreign-than-before/

  President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union address is that he gave a short intro to the crucial topic of foreign policy. Politico’s Josh Gerstein criticizes Obama for not mentioning al-Qaeda or the Israeli- Palestinian peace process. The foreign policy sections of Obama’s speech were unambitious and lacking in detail. Obama is actually focusing and paying more attention this year on foreign policy than ever before. This conclusion is different than all of his other six States of the Union addresses. Presidents tend to devote more time and attention to foreign policy the longer they stay in office. Presidents comfort foreign policy on their second term because they simply become comfortable with setting foreign policy as they gain more experience in handling international diplomacy. When it comes to foreign policy Obama will confront Republicans where they may be his closest allies on some of these issues while Democrats will go against him. Obama noted that “our combat mission in Afghanistan is over,” but he did note the continued and extended presence of U.S troops in that country, and in Iraq. He fights against the Islamic States, which has continued to hold territory in both Iraq and Syria. Obama pledged that he would not send combat troops back to Iraq, but he as been steadily increasing the number of American forced on the ground there. On Cuba, by contrast, Republicans will likely do all they can to block the administration’s push to further normalize ties with Havana, including the possible reopening of an American embassy there.

  Obama’s state of the Union address is important to at least have an idea about because it shows the people what Obama’s future resolutions are. He tells the people what he is planning to overcome and how he will tackle these problems.