The Polish prime minister refused the White House’s call to tell him that the US will renege on missile defense. (Via Instapundit.)
During the past administration, we were frequently told that our foreign policy was losing us friends and influence. In the end, however, there was no real evidence of that. Certainly no one stopped taking our calls!
On the geopolitical stage, nations look out for number one. If they disagree with our policy toward a third party or the environment or whatever, they might issue a communique or try to obstruct us at the UN, but that’s usually where it ends. They don’t risk their relationship with the United States over something like that.
We lose friends when we screw them directly. Sadly, after just eight months of the Obama administration, the list of nations we have screwed is already pretty long: Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Honduras, Israel, Mexico, Poland, and the UK.
President Obama calls this “smart diplomacy”.
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