President Barack Obama reshuffled his national security team last week, and the reviews were overwhelmingly positive. The White House proclaimed that this was the "strongest possible team," leaving unanswered the question, "Toward what end?" Obama's choices represent the continued reduction of the role of security as an administration priority. That fits into his determined strategy to reduce America's overseas military commitments amid the country's ongoing fiscal distress. Obama foresees a smaller, increasingly background role for U.S. security in the world, and these selections feed that pattern.
Read the entire column at World Politics Review.
Monday, May 2, 2011 at 10:42AM 
Reader Comments (2)
Great insights into Obama's latest moves. I sensed much "tongue in cheek" as I read but the "Apres moi, le deluge" at the end, for me, crystallized your thoughts...I agree with you. 2012 will be a very interesting year!
Petraeus had to be given a job that would keep him out of the hands of the RNC . The republicans are desperate for a genuine presidential candidate. You can't run for president while heading the CIA. So, yes, he has been put in a box but he is a fairly young man and may still end up running for office in the future.
Panetta goes out on a very high note with the superb Seal mission that killed OBL. Good job by all involved. Now we know what the president meant when he said we had more important things to think about than his birth certificate. Indeed.
In the end we got it right. Makes me proud of our professionals in the intelligence community and the military.