Harvey Sicherman, president of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, presented his assessment of the first ten months of the Obama administration’s foreign policy to an audience of about 60 people in the Rose Room of Brennan Hall recently as part of the Schemel Forum’s luncheon series.

Sicherman said he chose the ten-month period because after this time period a new administration’s initial illusions begin to dissipate.

“The reason I took the ten-month date, and why this was a great opportunity, is because by ten months in any new administration, you get through the initial illusions and it begins to settle down,” Sicherman said. “Every president coming in thinks that his inauguration started a new world, ten months in he discovers it’s the same old world.”

Much of Sicherman’s lecture dealt with the role of the Secretary of State in an administration. According to Sicherman, secretaries of state in the 19th century held a much larger power because they stood third in line, behind the vice-president, to take over in the event of a president’s dying in office.

Sicherman called into question the practices of President Obama’s Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, thus far. With the appointment of representatives to different countries and areas of the world so as to have a more focused approach to foreign policy, according to Sicherman, Clinton undercut her own efforts.

“If you’re outside the United States, if you’re a foreigner, what you want to know about any foreign policy is who’s making it, who’s the decisive person,” Sicherman said. “Well the message that came out in the first six months of the administration went something like this: If you want to do anything on the Arab/Israeli business, see Senator Mitchell, if you want to do anything on Afghanistan and Pakistan, see Ambassador Holbrooke, if you want to do anything on NATO and Russia, see Vice-President Biden.”

According to Sicherman it is that fragmentation of the Obama administration’s foreign policy that is its greatest weakness. 

“Here you have a secretary of state who is not the President’s chief diplomat, but just one voice among many, and instead the foreign policy is run primarily out of the White House,” Sicherman said.

Additionally, Sicherman said that President Obama may have too much on his plate for the first year of his presidency.

“Somewhere along the line he’s going to have to lighten that load or he’s going to burn everybody out,” Sicherman said. “It can’t be done strictly as a white house operation.”

This luncheon was part of the Schemel Forum’s five-part luncheon series, entitled Insights into World Affairs: Past Present and Future.

The Schemel Forum is a program of participatory learning experiences aimed at cultivating the intellect and the imagination through study and discussion of classical texts and current policies, from the arts, history and philosophy to technology and theology. Founded in 2006 through generous gifts to the Rev. George Schemel, S.J., Fund, the forum has grown quickly from a handful of informal lectures to a comprehensive enrichment program of study, dialogue, performances and special events. Session fees vary by program.