By Lahle Wolfe

Andrew stated, “The Russia-Georgia conflict is not the Cuban Missile Crisis redux, and - except in times of truly dire crisis - our present relations with Russia (and China…and India…and the rest of the world) require careful, informed consideration.”

I could not agree with you more, Andrew. I do have concerns about McCain’s emotionally-charged positions and actions (some of which could be accurately termed “rages”) on many foreign (and domestic) policy issues, but Obama’s recent response to Russia’s occupation of Georgia causes me to be even more concerned.

John McCain has his own ideas about how things should be done and he is clearly not afraid of asserting himself when he thinks he is right. But I get a different feeling from Barack Obama, who admits to not being as experienced and knowledgeable. At some point this lack of experience could cause him to either make a bad decision, or hesitate before acting on a good one. Uncertainty is not a quality we can afford in a president.

From Obama’s campaign website: “Obama is willing to meet with the leaders of all nations, friend and foe. He will do the careful preparation necessary, but will signal that America is ready to come to the table, and that he is willing to lead. And if America is willing to come to the table, the world will be more willing to rally behind American leadership to deal with challenges like terrorism, and Iran and North Korea's nuclear programs.”

I find the above statement a weak and vague position on foreign affairs. “He will do the careful preparation necessary…” sounds too much like an admission of inexperience; an image Obama should be working harder to counter, not perpetuate.

McCain was quick to point out that Obama’s willingness to “meet with the leaders of all nations, friend and foe,” without further qualifying any conditions of such meetings, "betrays the depth" of his "inexperience and reckless judgment." The best Obama could counter with was it is “naive and wishful thinking" to insist a country "meet all your conditions" before sitting down with its leaders. But I believe that it is Obama who is "naive and wishfully thinking" that the world will rally behind the U.S. simply if our intentions are good - even if our acts are irresponsible and undiplomatic.

Obama needs to understand something that McCain, to his advantage, already does: You cannot please all the people all the time and you cannot win an election based on “good will.” And in the case of foreign diplomacy, Obama also needs to understand that a willingness to “meet with the leaders of all nations” can have just as negative an impact as refusing to meet with them at all.

This week's previous posts (most recent first): Cold War, Great Power, Say Anything, Georgia, Looking Abroad.