Sheldon Richman on Obama’s Straw Interventionists and Isolationists

In Barack Obama’s recent address to West Point graduates, as in
other speeches on foreign policy, Obama tried to position himself
in what he likes to portray as the reasonable center. On the one
side is “isolationism,” which he positions as “ignor(ing) what
happens beyond our borders.” On the other are those he calls “the
interventionists,” who advocate U.S. military action as “the
only—or even primary—component” of foreign policy. 

Note how Obama stakes out his “moderate” position: by
misrepresenting what he stigmatizes as “isolationism” and creating
a straw interventionist to oppose. Obama needs this caricature,
argues Sheldon Richman, so he can portray himself as the reasonable
and moderate voice in the room. But you’d strain your eyes to find
differences between Obama and the people he calls
“interventionists.” Obama’s record reveals a belief that the U.S.
has license to police the world.

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