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Numerous Global Security Challenges Await Next President

For Obama, there have been security triumphs.

"We ended the war in Iraq, refocused our attention on those who actually killed us on 9/11. And as a consequence, al Qaida's core leadership has been decimated,” said Obama.

But scenes of continuing violence in Iraq, in Syria, and in Libya - where a militant¹ attack on the U.S. consulate² at Benghazi that killed four Americans including the U.S. ambassador - are reminders³ the region may be just as unstable⁴ as before.

Republican candidate Mitt⁵ Romney points to what he says is an Obama foreign policy that is unraveling and threatening the safety and security of Americans.

“I congratulate him on taking out Osama bin⁶ Laden⁷ and going after the leadership in al-Qaida. But we can’t kill our way out of this mess,” said Romney.

Romney calls for a strong military as a deterrent⁹ and is critical of Obama’s plan, which calls for downsizing navy ships, cutting the number of ground troops, and making the military more reliant on special forces, covert¹⁰ operations, and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Under Obama, the number of killings¹¹ of militants¹² by drone strikes has increased substantially, and his administration has focused on training and equipping the militaries of other nations to carry out operations, rather than sending in U.S. troops.

“We're now able to transition out of Afghanistan in a responsible way, making sure that Afghans take responsibility for their own security. And that allows us also to rebuild alliances and make friends around the world to combat future threats,” said Obama.

Romney - like Obama - has shied away from committing the U.S. to direct involvement in another war.

“The candidates do talk a great deal, but they don’t necessarily have huge differences between them because both men are aware the American public is tired of major overseas interventions,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a security analyst¹³ at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

In addition to using a strong military to deter⁸ aggression¹⁴ from states like Iran and fight the rise of radical¹⁵ Islam, Romney proposes using foreign aid to pressure Egypt to promote democracy and maintain peace with Israel, and says he wants to help the Syrian opposition¹⁶. He calls for economic development, promoting education, gender¹⁷ equality, and rule of law in countries that are seeing a militants surge.

“We're going to have to put in place a very comprehensive and robust¹⁸ strategy to help the world of Islam and other parts of the world reject this radical violent extremism which is - it's certainly not on the run. It's certainly not hiding. This is a group that is now involved in 10 or 12 countries,” said Romney.

Among the countries where al-Qaida affiliates¹⁹ are expanding their bases is the West African nation of Mali. Although the candidates mentioned Mali in the final debate, analysts²⁰ do not see either Obama or Romney having much of an Africa agenda.

“On Africa, we have to say that Romney and Obama have both avoided the subject. So, of the various topics one might discuss, in a sense that’s unfortunately the simplest because there really hasn’t been any discussion,” said O'Hanlon.

The issue of security in Europe has not been a major topic in this presidential campaign. The two men want members of the NATO alliance to start contributing more manpower and equipment that the U.S. has shouldered traditionally. They differ on a missile defense²¹ strategy toward Russia - with Obama favoring a more flexible policy toward Moscow.

Regardless of who wins the election, the next four years will present as many, if not more, challenges for the president of the United States.