A New Foreign Policy: 'We Want Dialogue'

March 7, 2009— -- President Obama pledged a new foreign policy on the campaign trail, and now it seems his administration is trying to deliver on that promise.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on her way back to Washington today after a week of high-level diplomacy aimed at rebuilding U.S. alliances around the world. There are indications that the administration is making an effort to improve relations and reopen dialogue with Syria, Iran and North Korea, and is perhaps even reaching out to parts of the Taliban.

In an interview with the New York Times, the president suggested his administration would consider reaching out to moderate elements of the Taliban. A similar approach has been used successfully by the U.S. military in Iraq, although the president cautioned that the situation in Afghanistan is "more complex."

"There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region," he told the paper.

And in a step toward thawing diplomatic relations and reopening dialogue with Syria, two senior U.S. officials held talks in Damascus on Saturday.

The State Department's Jeffrey Feltman and Dan Shapiro of the National Security Council met with Syrian leaders, looking to ease tensions over Syria's ties to Iran, its role in Lebanon and its support of Hezbollah. The United States recalled its ambassador to Syria in 2005.

Meanwhile, Iran is considering a U.S. invitation to participate in multi-lateral talks about conditions in neighboring Afghanistan, a potential step forward in evolving U.S.-Iranian relations.

U.S. envoy Stephen Bosworth said that the administration also "wants dialogue" with North Korea.

"We're reaching out now. We want dialogue," he told reporters in South Korea, on the last stop of a trip through the region.

Danielle Pletka, vice-president for Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said the biggest risk of reaching out to adversaries, especially Iran is that they will perceive the United States as weak.

"They think the United States is back on its heels, economic downturn, afraid after Iraq, worried about Afghanistan, and that we are not a force to be reckoned with," she said. "That's a real danger for us."

But many foreign policy experts say the renewed dialogue is long overdue.

"I would give the Obama team an A," said Karim Sadjadpour, an analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for Int'l Peace. "They have moved cautiously and prudently and I think they have been making the right steps."