Obama, no foreign-policy wizard he

I realize there is probably more American history in this one post than you probably had in your entire government-high school career, but here are 5 of the top foreign policy doctrines in recent American history:

*The Monroe Doctrine which states that any attempt by a foreign government to control the affairs of a nation that the US recognizes as independent will be taken as action against the US herself. It was intended to, and it did seriously crimp England's practice of imperialism.

*The Truman Doctrine, also known as "the doctrine of containment", described the practice of assisting with money, equipment, and military force, any country that was struggling against communism.

*The Carter Doctrine stated that any attempt by a nation to prevent the free commercial movement of oil by consolidating control of the Persian Gulf, specifically by the Soviet Union, would be seen as directly hostile to the US and would be met with whatever was necessary, including military means. The Persian Gulf remains free today.

*The Reagan Doctrine was an overt extension of the Truman Doctrine, by which we aided not only nations but rebel forces who fought communism. The Reagan Doctrine partially led to the fall of the Soviet Union and the Berlin Wall.

*The Bush Doctrine which was in direct response to 9/11. It stated basically that any country who harbors or sponsors terrorist activity will be treated like the terrorists themselves. It was our public warning to the world that we will prevent another terrorist attack by rooting out the terrorists where they are now, no matter what country harbors them. We won't wait to be attacked again.

You might be wondering where The Obama Doctrine is on this list. Well, the unintended consequences of the Obama Doctrine are so embarrassing, you're not likely to find it in any text books any time soon. They call it The R2P Doctrine which stands for "Responsibility to Protect". Essentially it explains our policy in the recent Arab-Spring uprisings. Always take the side of the put-upon civilians against their oppressive government. Citizens who we naively believe will organize after we topple their government and form a US-friendly democracy. Obama stated it specifically as our reason for intervening in Libya: "we have a responsibility to protect the citizens" he said.

We hoped for that in Algeria, Egypt, and Libya and we're hoping for it in Syria and possibly Iran, but what has happened where governments were toppled with or without our help? In Algeria, Egypt, and Libya something far worse is happening...chaos, violence, tribalism, and disorganization. The weapons and refugees are flowing into neighboring countries threatening to destabilize them too. Thanks to Obama's R2P doctrine, North Africa and the larger middle east is far more unstable and likely to get worse than it was before we "helped". This is why you won't see the administration or the media recognizing the 1-year anniversary of our intervention in Egypt and Libya.....it failed utterly and made the US look weak, inept, and uninsightful that we didn't see this eventuality.