Candidate Review - Foreign Policy - Bill Richardson

Well Richardson largely says the right thing, which is Bush has taken us off course and we need to get back on track. He is promoting what he calls a "New Realism" in foreign policy, which is a nice phrase.

This administration’s lack of realism has led us to a dangerous place. We need to take a different path. A path based on reality, not unilateralist illusions. A path that understands that the gravest dangers that threaten us today do not threaten only us – and that therefore to pursue our national interest and meet these challenges we must work with our friends, our enemies, and everyone in between. This is a path not of hard words, but of hard work. A path of moral strength, not pious judgments. A path of strong diplomacy, backed up by a strong military and strong alliances. This is the path of American leadership.

The truth is that the Bush Administration's foreign policy, for all their protestations of hard headed realism, is based largely on fantasies. Witness the predictions for how the Iraq War and how it actually has gone. A New Realism contrasts with that nicely.