Middle East policy is likely to be a key battlefield in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton will need to choose whether to run on her record as secretary of state or distance herself from the Obama administration, with her challengers positioning accordingly. On the Republican side, prospective candidates appear eager to denounce the Obama administration’s policies toward Syria, Iraq, the so-called Islamic State and other extremist Islamist movements, Libya, the Gulf and Israel.
To position themselves, candidates will have to navigate some important divides between party elites and the broader public on these Middle East policy issues. CONT.
Dina Smeltz (Chicago Council on Global Affairs), The Monkey Cage