Fallows on Obama's foreign policy: A force to be reckoned with

President Obama speaks to reporters
President Obama speaks to reporters
Susan Walsh | AP File

"Many of the president's supporters fear that he hasn't really known what he is doing. Many of his critics worry that he is all-too-skillful at attaining his ends. There's increasing evidence that the critics may be right," James Fallows recently wrote in The Atlantic.

Fallows joined MPR News host Kerri Miller for a deeper discussion of his view on President Obama's foreign policy successes and failures.

Among Obama's accomplishments Fallows writes:

• The climate deal itself, as explained in a NYT piece just now, and in unbelievable contrast to the utter collapse of the Copenhagen negotiations early in Obama's term;

• The rapprochement with Cuba, marking the beginning of the end of the single stupidest (but hardest to change) aberration in modern U.S. foreign policy; and

• The international agreement with Iran, which in the short term offers (as I have argued at length) the best prospects for keeping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and in the long run has the potential of beginning to end Iran's destructive estrangement from the international order.

Fallows added, "The record now indicates the 'inexperienced,' 'disengaged,' 'narcissistic' Obama will be seen historically as a force to be reckoned with."

Use the audio player above to hear the full conversation. Next week, Kerri will speak with conservative commentator Matt Lewis about the same topics ahead of Obama's final State of the Union speech.

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