Captain Richard Phillips was help captive by Somalian pirates, but was rescued by the U.S. Navy last week. (The Associated Press/U.S. Navy photo)
Obama focuses on issues abroad
By: Jillian Melchionna
Although domestic issues like the economy have been the center of President Obama’s first 90 days in office, significant actions in foreign policy are reshaping the public opinion of Obama’s new presidency.
According to BarackObama.com, Obama’s top concerns in foreign policy are ending the war in Iraq, securing nuclear materials, ending conflict with Iran, and renewing American diplomacy. However, surprising issues like Somali piracy and Cuban remittance policies have recently presented themselves as important foreign issues for President Obama to deal with as well.
The Somali Pirate Incidents
Recent piracy off the coast of Somalia has shown to be a wildcard in foreign policy tests for President Obama. Many people are wondering where the pirates will receive their justice, and whether President Obama will have to create new policies to deal with minors involved in the hijacking situations.
“The detained Somali pirate could be as young as 14 or 16,” says Scola Lee, a student at Stockton College. “Piracy and hostage taking is a federal crime, which just becomes a mess because most people tried in an American Federal Court are not minors, let alone 16 year olds.”
Obama may choose to hand the hijackers over to Kenya in order to resolve the issue of trying a minor in the U.S. Federal Court system. According to Fox news, the Kenyan government has prosecuted Somali pirates in the past, but never following an implication with the United States.
“I think Obama’s decision to allow Kenya to try the pirates avoids a host of problems with the U.S. court system,” says Lee. “Kenya has been dealing with piracy for much longer and are used to such incidents.”
The War in Iraq: More Troops to Afghanistan
One of Obama’s initial presidential actions was sending 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in February, upsetting many Obama supporters. The decision was made to increase troops in order to secure the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and weaken the Taliban’s power in that area, but some people were dissatisfied with Obama’s choice.
“I was pretty upset when I saw how many more troops Obama was sending to Afghanistan,” says Monmouth University student David Quaile. “It was like he promised one thing and gave us something else.”
Other people see Obama’s increase in troops to Afghanistan as something crucial to ending the war in Iraq. Leyna Santore, a History professor at Monmouth University, thinks that Obama’s move was necessary in order to eventually pull out of the war.
“I think a lot of people are disappointed with seeing more troops go to Afghanistan because Obama’s campaign made it seem like ending the war in Iraq would be a top issue,” says Santore. “I’m certain it is, but many people do not realize that ending the war quickly and efficiently may require an influx of troops right away.”
Nuclear Weapons
New arrangements are underway in America’s nuclear disarmament policy after the launching of North Korea’s missile on April 5th,. Prior to his election, Obama had expressed a strong stance for harsh sanctions on countries like North Korea, Russia and China upon breaking anti-nuclear weapon treaties put in place by the United Nations. Members of the United Nations are currently unsure whether the launching of North Korea’s missile is a violation of security sanctions.
“I think Obama would do the better thing by denouncing the missile launch because there are big issues on the domestic level right now,” says Bryan Hutches, a History major at the University of Massachusetts.
“The United Nations should step up and do something instead of deliberating for months and months,” says Hutches. “I think Obama should kind of step back while he deals with the economy.”
The Obama administration is also planning to decrease the amount of nuclear weapons in the U.S. in order to set an example for other countries and rid the world completely of nuclear weapons.
Lifting Cuban Travel Bans
President Obama ended policies forbidding Cuban-Americans to visit or send money to relatives in Cuba on Monday, April 13th. Obama is also improving telecommunications between the U.S. and Cuba, allowing citizens easier access to cell phones and satellite television, according to the New York Times.
Kristina Guardino, a Cuban-American student at Rowan University, thinks that President Obama’s decision will lead to a more open relationship between the U.S. and Cuba.
“Reversing the travel restrictions in Cuba is something that should have been done years ago,” says Guardino. “The family travel restrictions were carry-overs from the Cold War era and had been in place for upwards of 50 years. The policy had just been ignored for so long by previous administrations.”
President Obama is not yet ready to deal with the issue of Cuban trade embargo, but his small steps in Cuban policy change seem to be a surprising approach for the administration.
“Overall, I think Obama set a good standard from the start of his presidency on foreign policy,” says Guardino. “After dealing with the economy, he made it a point to go to the Middle East, and even Cuba, to address countries that have had strained political relationships with the U.S. for years.”
For more information:
