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Jimmy Carter: Obama Posts Lackluster Foreign Policy Record
Tuesday, June 30, 2015 04:55 PM
By: Cathy Burke
President Barack Obama's successes on the world stage "have been minimal," even as the influence of the United States around the globe has sunk "lower than it was six or seven years ago," according to the former President Jimmy Carter.
Speaking to the Aspen Institute, Carter heaped high praise on John Kerry as a "dynamic" secretary of state, but offered faint praise for Obama's foreign policy record.
The full hour-long conversation was posted Tuesday by Real Clear Politics.
"On the world stage, I think [Obama’s successes] have been minimal," Carter said. "I think he has done some good things domestically, like health reform and so forth. But on the world stage, just to be objective about it as I can, I can’t think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship now than we did when he took over."
Carter added that he was not blaming the president for the lackluster record, "but we have not improved our relations with different countries," he said.
"[United States] president is now lower than it was six or seven years ago," Carter said. "I don't blame him for it. Circumstances have evolved … "
When asked to elaborate, Carter replied: "This may not be the best thing to say to a group of Americans, but I think the historical trend is for the [United States] to relinquish its unquestioned domination of the world's politics and economy and cultural influence."
"I think it can be a good thing," he added. "Because I believe that the so-called BRICS countries" — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa — "China is rising, Russia is going to come back, and other countries also, Brazil and India are increasing their influence compared with 10 years ago. I can't say that I could blame President Obama for it, it is an inevitability."
Carter advised Obama "and the next president" to go beyond being a military superpower.
"This is maybe preaching a bit," Carter confessed, adding that a superpower is one that "should not only be the top country in terms of military power, that we are going to continue to be, but the American superpower goal should be to be the champion of peace. And to be the champion of human rights and the champion of the environment. And to be the most generous nation on Earth. Those are the elements that I hope eventually the U.S. will set as goals."
So far, he scolded, "We are the most warlike country on Earth. We are a laggard in addressing the problem of global warming for instance, and we are now violating about 10 of the 30 paragraphs in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
"This is something we should look upon as opportunities or duties for the future," he urged.
It's not the first time the former president has criticized Obama's foreign policy, the Washington Free Beacon reports, noting Carter in October declared the United States has "waited too long" to confront the Islamic State (ISIS).
"We let the Islamic State build up its money, capability and strength and weapons while it was still in Syria,” Carter told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
