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CAMPAIGN 2012 January 26, 2012

Presidential Candidate Debate Timeline

For lovers of presidential debates, this election season won't disappoint. With several GOP candidate debates already held, several more planned, and four more scheduled for the general election, candidates will have plenty of opportunities to get their messages across to a national audience. Read more »
ANALYSIS November 12, 2011

Republicans Channel Dick Cheney in NJ/CBS Foreign Policy Debate

Even at a time when voters’ biggest worry is the economy and President Obama boasts some bragging rights on foreign policy, Romney and his rivals are poised to tar the Democratic administration as soft on national security. Read more »
11/12/2011

Insiders: Romney, Gingrich Winners; Huntsman, Cain Losers in Saturday's Debate

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich were the winners of Saturday's  National Journal /CBS News debate, according to a survey of Republican and Democratic political operatives, campaign consultants, and party strategists, in a special National Journal Political Insiders Poll conducted Saturday. what do you think?
ANALYSIS November 12, 2011

At Debate, GOP Candidates Take Aim at Obama, But Also Hit Bush

The eight Republican presidential candidates who took part in the first foreign policy debate lobbed rhetorical grenades at President Obama, alternately accusing him of bankrupting the U.S., putting the CIA under the control of the ACLU, threatening Israel’s security and failing to stop Iran’s nuclear program. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

Scenes from the CBS-National Journal GOP Debate -- PICTURES

Republican presidential candidates gathered on Saturday in at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., for the CBS News- National Journal debate on foreign policy. Click through to watch highlights of the debate. Read more »
ANALYSIS November 12, 2011

The Debate: No One Really Measured Up

It was, CBS’s Scott Pelley said, the “commander-in-chief debate,” and the 90 minutes that followed fairly well fulfilled that description. For the first time, the Republican presidential candidates were thrust  into hypothetical tests of what they might decide from the White House on critical national-security questions ranging from Iran’s nuclear program to torture. Read more »
November 12, 2011

Could Gingrich Take a 3 a.m. Phone Call?

After the CBS-National Journal debate on Saturday, National Journal editor Ron Fournier gives his take on Republicans' performance. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

Fact Check: Gingrich Says Assad Got Soft Treatment

Newt Gingrich incorrectly said President Obama "dumped" U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak "overnight" amid mass protests demanding the end of his 30-year rule. And he said it's ironic that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had received "amazingly soft treatment" as though the State Department was "afraid to make him feel bad." The Obama administration had initially refrained from calling publicly for Mubarak to step down, saying the decision was for the Egyptian people to make. Then Obama called on Assad to step down pointedly-- and the administration imposed a raft of sanctions meant to isolate Damascus from the U.S. financial system by freezing the Syrian government's assets under U.S. jurisdiction, banning U.S. imports of Syrian-origin petroleum and petroleum products, and banning Americans from engaging in any transaction involving the government of Syria. Read more »
2012 Decoded November 12, 2011

GOP Field Hard-line, Isolationist and Unclear

Herman Cain sums up his world view in an all-too-simple phrase: "Peace through strength and clarity," he tells adoring audiences every day. "Clarify who our friends are and clarify who our enemies are." Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

Rick Perry Copies Ronald Reagan Tactic in Debate Comeback Effort

Taking a page from Ronald Reagan, Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Saturday sought to use humor to rebound from his much-noted debate flub earlier in the week.  Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

FACT CHECK: A Reality Check of Candidate Statements

National Journal staffers took a look at some of the candidate statements at the national security debate in South Carolina on Saturday Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

FACT CHECK: U.S. Has No Place to Detain Terrorists--Bachmann

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann’s statement that U.S. intelligence operatives have no place to detain captured terrorists is false. The Bush administration operated a network of secret prisons in Afghanistan and eastern Europe, but it began closing down the European facilities before handing power to President Obama. Under Obama’s watch, the U.S. has maintained – and expanded – the size of its secretive prisons in Afghanistan; opened up new detention facilities on the island of Diego Garcia; and opened up new facilities in the African nation of Somalia. In addition, the Guantanamo Bay detention facility remains open, and terror suspects held there continue to be interrogated.  Read more »
POLITICS November 12, 2011

FACT CHECK: Obama Is No Friend Of Israel

Michele Bachmann claimed President Obama has been more of a friend to Occupy Wall Street protesters than to Israel.   Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

NJ/CBS Debate: GOP Candidates Target Obama on National Security

Republican candidates excoriated President Obama in a  National Journal- CBS News debate on foreign policy and national security issues in Spartanburg, S.C. Read more »
NATIONAL SECURITY November 12, 2011

How the Experts Rate the GOP Presidential Debaters

Foreign policy experts weigh-in on the debate in South Carolina. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

FOREIGN POLICY DOSSIER: Jon Huntsman

Former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman is, well, an ambassador. He knows something about the world, he says, because has lived overseas four times. So when it comes to foreign policy, Huntsman sounds decidedly like a grown-up in a room full of politicians serving up primary red meat. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

FOREIGN POLICY DOSSIER: Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney will not apologize for America. That’s been Romney’s go-to foreign policy talking point and is a good description for most of his national security proposals. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

FOREIGN POLICY DOSSIER: Rick Santorum

The former Pennsylvania senator, having spent eight years on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been touting his foreign-policy and national-security experience on Capitol Hill in his presidential campaign. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

FOREIGN POLICY DOSSIER: Michele Bachmann

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., often hints at her vast knowledge of classified information due to her position on the House Intelligence Committee, and has consistently referred to herself as the candidate “who understands problems that are going on internationally.” Read more »
NATIONAL SECURITY November 12, 2011

FOREIGN POLICY DOSSIER: Newt Gingrich

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is well-versed and very comfortable talking about a wide range of foreign policy and global issues. As such, Gingrich has targeted President Obama from his first days in office as a naïve foreign policy amateur who’s too soft on American adversaries, too quick to abdicate hard-line American leadership, and doesn’t listen to his generals. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

FOREIGN POLICY DOSSIER: Rick Perry

Perry’s foreign-policy philosophy overall appears contradictory: He says he doesn't believe America "should fall subject to a foreign policy of military adventurism,” while in the same breath he insists "we must renew our commitment to taking the fight to the enemy wherever they are, before they strike at home.” Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 12, 2011

FOREIGN POLICY DOSSIER: Herman Cain

GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain insists he'll be able to get smart on foreign policy issues the same way he learned about running a pizza franchise. "I had never made a pizza, but I learned," he told an audience at the National Press Club. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 11, 2011

Romney, Gingrich Most Trusted GOP Candidates on Foreign Policy, Poll Shows

One day before National Journal and CBS News host Republican presidential candidates for a debate on national security and foreign policy, a new poll shows Americans hostile to military engagements overseas. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 11, 2011

What Will the Candidates Say in the CBS/NJ GOP debate?

National Journal /CBS News campaign reporters debrief on what the Republican presidential candidates they've been covering might say at the national security and foreign policy in CBS News/ NJ's debate Saturday . Read more »
FOREIGN AFFAIRS November 11, 2011

At Debate, the World That's Waiting for GOP Candidates

When Republican presidential candidates take the stage Saturday night to discuss foreign policy, they’re sure to issue muscular calls for restoring American predominance in the world and to accuse President Obama of abandoning Washington’s traditional leadership on a range of global economic and political issues.  Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 11, 2011

Can South Carolina Pick a Winner in 2012?

The third state to vote is spoiled by its reputation for picking a presidential primary winner, but its voters seem to be as stymied as the rest of the country by the volatility of this year's Republican contest. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 11, 2011

Tweets from the Debate

Follow the tweets from the CBS News- National Journal foreign policy debate. Read more »
NEED TO KNOW: NATIONAL SECURITY November 10, 2011

Foreign Policy, the GOP Candidates' Vacuum

Four reasons Republican contenders have been ignoring the rest of the world. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 8, 2011

Candidates' Foreign-Policy Gaffes -- PICTURES

Foreign-policy "oops" statements can be a matter of semantics, as shown by President Obama's latest gaffe referring to Nazi death camps as "Polish death camps." We take a look at the 2012 presidential candidates' less-than-stellar statements about foreign policy. Read more »
NATIONAL SECURITY November 7, 2011

What Insiders Want to Ask the Candidates for the Nov. 12 NJ/CBS Debate

National Journal and CBS News will host a Republican debate focusing on foreign policy and national security on Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. We asked our National Security Insiders, an elite pool of defense and foreign policy experts, to give us some suggestions on what questions to ask the Republican contenders. Separately, our experts are blogging about how they would rate the candidates' performances on these issues during their respective campaigns so far. Read more »
NATIONAL SECURITY November 7, 2011

What the Experts Want to Ask the GOP Presidential Candidates

Kori Schake is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and an associate professor of international security studies at West Point. She served in both the State Department and on the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration. Read more »
CAMPAIGN 2012 November 7, 2011

Countdown to the Debate: Foreign-Policy Questions Facing the Next President -- VIDEO

Major Garrett talks about how he prepared for the CBS News -National Journal debate on November 12. Garrett moderated the Republican debate, which focused on foreign policy and national security issues, alongside CBS News' Scott Pelley. Read more »
WHITE HOUSE November 7, 2011

Game Changers: Foreign Policy Events that Altered Presidencies

Every president enters the White House with an agenda, one that he has pitched to citizenry throughout his entire campaign. However, when a surprise foreign-policy or national-security issue explodes onto the scene, the leader of the Free World can find themselves redefining their term and their policies based on their response. We take a look in pictures at the events that have shaped the modern presidents. Read more »
November 4, 2011
CAMPAIGN 2012 October 28, 2011

Submit Your Questions for the CBS News/National Journal Foreign Policy Debate

CBS News and National Journal are hosting a foreign policy debate on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. EST at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. What would you like the moderators to ask the candidates about foreign policy and national security? Read more »
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