Vin Weber, a former Republican congressman for Minnesota, once joked that Americans treat foreign policy much as they treat dentistry-something they would rather not think about unless they have to. The first three presidential elections after the end of the cold war, in 1992,1996 and 2000, saw little discussion of the world beyond America's borders. The economy trumped international affairs, the culture wars diplomacy. Even in 2004, when America was really at war, values seemed to matter much more than abroad did.rnThis year will be different. Foreign policy will define the election almost as much as America's troubled economy. The next American president will inherit the most difficult international situation since Richard Nixon won power in 1968: two nasty wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, in their fifth and seventh year respectively; an Iran bent on acquiring nuclear weapons; instability in Pakistan; deeply strained relations with a prickly Russia; rivalry with booming China; a catastrophic drop in America's standing around the world; and a backlash against globalisation.
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