Despite ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, nuclear diplomacy problems with Russia and simmering crises in North Korea and Iran, "I think it's fair to say that for the past 18 months, foreign policy has not been a priority for this administration," said Fredrik Logevall, the John S. Knight Professor of International Studies and director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. "Quite understandably problems with the American economy have taken precedence."

Logevall led a lively faculty roundtable discussion of "America and the World" June 11 before an alumni audience in the Biotechnology Building on campus for Reunion Weekend. Foreign policy, he said, remains important to the United States' short- and long-term future, and the Obama administration faces important choices.

The economic crisis has affected the United States' relationship with China, said Jonathan Kirshner, professor of government and director of the Peace Studies Program. "I continue to see -- as I have for several years now -- some of the most dangerous problems in world politics derive from a shoe that has not yet fallen."

China's economy has a number of fragilities, Kirshner said, and the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party rests on its ability to sustain very high rates of economic growth. Disruption of this rise in wealth is likely to cause domestic political pressure and upheaval within the country that could lead the party to encourage "virulent nationalism" -- and endanger U.S.-China relations.

On the economic front, said Kirshner, "Exchange rate realignment will not make the very large U.S. trade deficit with China go away"; and China -- which is recovering faster from the global economic slump than the United States -- is leery of taking U.S. advice on how to run an economy. Yet China's ownership of U.S. debt inextricably ties its future to American prosperity.

Elizabeth Sanders, professor of government, spoke about United States influence in world. "It's no surprise to tell you that the rest of the world rejoiced at the election of Barack Obama in 2008, and that there was great hope abroad as well as domestically that change in the U.S. presidency would be beneficial for the entire world," she said. Many expected that the U.S. would abandon unilateral force and rediscover Wilsonianism, diplomacy and cooperation; and thus gain soft power, or the ability to persuade others through attraction rather than coercion.

But on a number of fronts, Sanders said, Obama has not lived up to that early promise. The previous administration's reliance on military force "sacrificed so much of public opinion and soft power and also did great damage to its economy, which in turn comes back to haunt the exercise of soft power and of hard power."

Enormous military spending "will have to be cut ... and Obama has not yet talked about cutting it," added Sanders, who noted that the U.S. has 700 military bases around the world. "That's the largest issue that has not been addressed," she said. "To me this is possibly very ominous."

The discussion was presented by the Einaudi Center.