This is called retrenchment

We all anticipated this State of the Union speech would not focus on international issues, but here is my short list of more important things not mentioned or glossed over:

• West Bank settlements (or Palestinians)
• North Korea
• Euro crisis
• Africa or Latin America (not even Cuba),
• Bahrain or Saudi Arabia, virtually no Egypt, Tunisia or Yemen
• China (except as an unfair competitor)
• Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, India or even Russia (except as an emerging market)
• Pakistan (except as an Al Qaeda haven)
• Strait of Hormuz

That’s a pretty spectacular list, even without noting the absence of NATO, Japan, allies, Europe, the UN…

A few notable items that were mentioned:

• Strong on regime change in Syria (putting Assad in the same sentence with Qaddafi could have implications) and on exporting democracy and free markets in general
• Positive about peaceful resolution of the dispute with Iran over nuclear weapons, while keeping all options on the table
• Trade agreements with South Korea, Panama and Colombia
• Burma as the hope of the Pacific!

Of course the President also mentioned withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan, security cooperation with Israel, blows delivered against Al Qaeda, and the troops (no mention of civilians serving abroad this time around I’m afraid).

If this is a prelude to the campaign, as rightly it should be, it presages an ever more economically focused foreign policy, with security issues narrowed to a few top priorities and little focus on diplomacy except on a few specific issues.  This is a vision for restoring American economic strength at home, not increasing–or perhaps even maintaining–its commitments abroad.  This is called retrenchment.

PS:  I should have mentioned that Richard Haas calls it “restoration.”  That’s a more positive word, but the substance is the same.