By Dr. Robert Farley
Last Tuesday’s election resulted in victory for Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. While Republicans maintained control of the House of Representatives, the Democrats gained seats in both branches of Congress in addition to holding onto the Presidency. Victory, combined with the retirement of key staff, has given the administration tremendous autonomy for setting foreign policy in the second term. What implications do these developments have for U.S. foreign policy towards Asia?
It wont take long for the national security implications of the election to begin playing out. The "fiscal cliff,"including significant tax increases and defense cuts, will come into effect next year unless the two political parties hammer out a deal to reduce the fiscal deficit. President Obama obviously comes away from the election with a stronger hand than he had before, and some prominent members of the Republican Party have begun calling for compromise. Bill Kristol, a pundit known for being more hawkish on defense than fiscal issues, argued that the GOP shouldn’t “fall on its sword” for upper class tax cuts, while Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner has called for the raucous GOP House caucus to fall in line. Given its electoral victory, the Obama administration itself may resist a deal that does not involve some of the defense cuts promised in sequestration.
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