Obama Strives To Reconcile Idealism With Realism - review of Nobel speech

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/afghanistan/obamas-realistic-idealism-or-idealistic-realism/

A central tension in Obama's evolving foreign policy approach has been whether to tack more towards realism, even as his need to justify his escalation in Afghanistan has pulled him at times towards a more moralizing approach.

In a particularly interesting moment during today's speech, he seemed to strive for a way of reconciling the two:

And within America, there has long been a tension between those who describe themselves as realists or idealists -– a tension that suggests a stark choice between the narrow pursuit of interests or an endless campaign to impose our values.

I reject this choice. I believe that peace is unstable where citizens are denied the right to speak freely or worship as they please; choose their own leaders or assemble without fear. Pent up grievances fester, and the suppression of tribal and religious identity can lead to violence. We also know that the opposite is true. Only when Europe became free did it finally find peace. America has never fought a war against a democracy, and our closest friends are governments that protect the rights of their citizens. No matter how callously defined, neither America's interests –- nor the world's –- are served by the denial of human aspirations.

There's enough here to rankle left and right alike. The left may object to the hint that in certain cases it's acceptable to impose American values by force, for the good of other nations. The right may point out that carries accents of the Bushian moralizing about American values that so often infuriated liberals and America's allies abroad. (Though Bush eschewed the international system and diplomacy in a way directly at odds with Obama's overall approach.)

Either way, Obama seems to be trying to recast idealism in foreign policy as of a piece with realism, in the sense that a realistic and self-interested view of the world should hold that American ideals are more likely to foster peace and stability. Realistic idealism? Idealistic realism?

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Update: Ben Smith has a smart coinage for Obama's doctrine: "Realism with a heart."