Obama get good grades in foreign policy

Mises Blog: Among other things, Mearshimer declares that the neoconservatives “are in real trouble,” and that Obama is a closet realist. Mearshimer has a point. Obama may in fact be a realist. His foreign policy has certainly been less reckless, although it just goes to show how insane American foreign policy is that Obama’s brand of it looks relatively prudent next to that of George W. Bush.
Realists tend to indulge in less bloodletting simply because starting major wars nonstop is not conducive to political stability. Bourne was still right: war is indeed the health of the state, but the wars are ideally low-risk wars.  As Rothbard noted in “The Anatomy of the State” (page 55), wars provide both great benefits and great risks for states. A lost war can be a disaster for a state. A realist like Obama (assuming he is one) apparently favors much safer little wars such as all the little drone wars and the much-scaled-down presence in Iraq. He elected (so far) to keep US meddling in Syria restrained and appears to have little appetite for a war in Iran.

Good news, the USA should use active trade to expand peace and security. Less war, more foreign aid. Hawks generally have a poor understanding of history, in my opinion. Obama would prefer the domestic policy of Bill Clinton, but he is trapped by Democratic special interests.