Obama, realism, and democracy

I devote a lot of attention in this blog to democrats speaking out against the low priority Obama appears to be giving to democracy in his foreign policy. James Rubin, as Assistant Secretary of State under Bill Clinton takes Obama to task on Democracy in Newsweek:

Over the past year, as the main contours of the new administration’s foreign policy have been established, the principles of democratic values have been too often set aside…Steering the right course between principle and pragmatism is no easy challenge. But at least since President John F. Kennedy’s call on Americans to bear any burden in the pursuit of freedom, Democrats from Carter to Clinton have tried…

There was a time when presidents gained political strength from upholding democratic values. But it’s now seen as smart politics to be a “realist.” And that is the real tragedy…Our power and our values cannot be separated. More than any other country on earth, America has been committed to principles in foreign affairs…

What’s needed is a straightforward course correction. Iran is a good place to start. Supporting the opposition’s right to demonstrate and shining a light on human-rights abuses is not the same as promoting regime change…There’s no reason we can’t continue nuclear talks at the same time. During the Cold War, we had no problem conducting arms-control negotiations with Moscow while also using the Helsinki process to advocate for dissidents and their freedoms.

Michael Allen at Democracy Digest has more.