Obama's Inheritance: George Bush's Legacy in Foreign Policy

When Barack Obama ran for president, he rejected President George Bush's foreign policy and stressed his new approach. As president, though, Mr. Obama has mixed a new approach -- engagement, outreach, and new approaches to proliferation -- with many of Mr. Bush's approaches, including fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban. Fifteen months into the Obama presidency, navigating the Bush legacy has sometimes outraged the left, triggered the right to declare that America has been weakened, and presented challenges for allies.

David Sanger, the chief Washington correspondent of the New York Times and author of the best-seller, The Inheritance: The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power, navigated the sometimes conflicting currents of the new administration. This event had commentary by former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, and was moderated by Professor Lawrence R. Jacobs.