Economic issues are front and center during this year's US presidential race, but Republican strategists now hope that foreign policy will become a bigger factor. The Romney camp wants to paint President Barack Obama as "apologetic" and weak and their candidate as bold and strong. Is this realistic?

The idea behind this strategy goes back to the Jimmy Carter versus Ronald Reagan race in 1980. At that time, the economy was in a shambles. Americans were angry about this but were also shocked by the Iran hostage crisis caused by the November 1979 storming of the US embassy in Tehran and the taking of US diplomats as hostages. Republicans blamed Carter for being weak on foreign policy.

Republicans now jump on the current wave of anti-Americanism around the world, attempting to portray Obama as a poor leader in foreign policy. Romney is adding a dose of anti-China rhetoric to fuel the fire.

The anti-Muslim film which sparked the violent public reaction came to public notice just on the symbolic date of September 11. Compounding this was the well-planned terrorist attack against the unsecured US consulate in Benghazi, killing the US ambassador and three staff members.   

It is now clear that the film was made by a group of Egyptian émigrés living in the US who are militant anti-Muslim activists with significant right-wing political connections. An organization called Media for Christ, located in California, produced the film, according to industry documents.

The organization is headed by a former Coptic Egyptian who converted to fundamentalist Christianity. The Egyptian émigré first identified in news only played a minor role and has a criminal record of arrest and jail time for a narcotics violation and for bank fraud.

According to press reports, the Media for Christ organization has contacts not only within extreme right-wing hate groups but also with established national right-wing activists and leaders. Political activist David Horowitz who operates the anti-Muslim Jihad Watch blog and the well-known pro-Israel fundamentalist John Hagee are cited in these reports.

As Horowitz and Hagee support conservative Republican causes, there may be more to the film incident than is presently known. 

While Republicans brazenly accuse President Obama for failure in Middle East policy, they themselves are responsible for a large measure of anti-Americanism in the Arab and Muslim worlds. It was George W. Bush who launched the unnecessary Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

On the other hand, there is a broad consensus in the US foreign policy community, such as it is, on Middle East policy. As both parties never cease to affirm, they unswervingly support Israel. Such a stance creates a structural problem for US foreign policy which, in turn, creates a broader structural problem in the international system itself.

Anti-Americanism in the Muslim world is used by the Romney camp to stridently proclaim loyalty to Israel. Romney himself is an old friend of rightist Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Years ago, they both worked for the Boston Consulting Group.

Republicans, however, may be able to exploit the fact that the US consulate in Benghazi had no effective security and was a substandard facility. Also, the security of a back up safe house was compromised. Despite heightened intelligence reports of increasing danger and instability in Benghazi, proper security clearly was lacking. 

Thus, it is fair and appropriate for Republicans as well as Democrats to demand from the White House answers to hard questions about the tragic event in Benghazi.  

Some three decades ago, images of the Iran hostage crisis shocked Americans who had never seen such examples of militant Islam on their television screens. Decades later, after the Iraq and Afghan wars and all the rest, the public may well be more jaded thus reducing the shock value of such imagery for politicians' campaigns.

Although the economy likely will remain the fundamental issue in the current presidential campaign, the murderous terrorist attack on an unsecured US consulate does provide an opening for Republicans on the foreign policy front.



The author is an educator and former senior professional staff member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn