Romney’s Real Foreign Policy Problem

by evanmcmurry

Romney followed up his disastrous visit to England with one to Israel, where he was less buffoonish in some respects, but in others did even more damage to his credibility as a human person who can speak coherent sentences about other nations. James Downie has a round-up of everything he got wrong in and about Israel, including attributing the differences in GDP between Israel and Palestine to cultural mores. Downie concludes:

This overseas trip has made clear that not only does Romney surround himself with advisers who want to push the Bush-era foreign policy even further, he also has terrible foreign policy instincts.

It’s worth pointing out, now even more than when it happened, that Romney had an experienced foreign policy advisor, or at least one respected in the field, who had to resign after two weeks of non-service because he’s gay. This is another case of the GOP’s conservative bent screwing Romney coming and going: not only must Romney maintain unrealistic foreign policy positions to appease the neo-con sections of his base, but he must do so without the help of qualified advisors, who could perhaps instruct him on how to thread on issues like the Middle East, because of a stupid cultural litmus test. Having to either hold dumb positions or work without qualified advisors would be bad enough for Romney; having to do both is so difficult you almost feel bad for the guy.