Fifty days into the new administration, a close examination of foreign policy shows dramatic changes on three broad fronts, with early table setting steps giving way to action abroad and at home.  Not everything can or should change overnight, but skeptics' assertions that Obama' foreign policy is a continuation of Bush's is not supported by the facts.

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Fewer than 50 days into his Presidency, Barack Obama has begun to set a different framework for how America deals with the Middle East. There is no question that today America’s choices and flexibility in the region are far greater than they were only 50 days ago.

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The Bush administration had no official comment concerning a clandestine attack by U.S. Special Operations forces into Syria. Senator Obama also refused to comment publicly on such a sensitive military operation. Yet the McCain campaign responded with a press release that argued that this operation would not have happened in an Obama administration and attacked Obama for advocating diplomatic engagement with Syria. McCain’s argument is not just reckless but incoherent.

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After initially refusing to deal with Syria, Iran and North Korea, the Bush administration has completely reversed course on its “not talking to our enemies” policy. The McCain campaign has suggested that engaging in diplomacy with Syria would be naïve. However, a consensus has emerged among the foreign policy community that the McCain approach is unworkable, and that only Obama’s strategy stands a chance of succeeding.

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