The biggest rap against Barack Obama’s foreign policy is that he is naive. Yet, as his presidency matures, Mr Obama is showing qualities one would normally associate with Henry Kissinger — the arch-realist of US diplomacy. Neoconservatives and liberals alike care about the internal character of regimes with which the US does business. Mr Kissinger stands apart from that tradition. The less Mr Obama preaches morality to foreigners, the more he distances himself from the exceptionalists — the more opportunities he creates. It is a welcome sign of a president with a learning curve.
对于巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)的外交政策，最大的批评就是他太过天真。不过，随着奥巴马在总统任上渐趋成熟，他正在展示人们通常会与亨利•基辛格(Henry Kissinger)这个美国外交的极端现实者联系起来的品质。新保守主义者和自由主义者有一个共同点：他们都关心美国打交道的政权的内在特性。基辛格则脱离了这一传统。奥巴马越少向外国人鼓吹道德，他与美国例外主义就越疏远——他也就会创造越多机遇。对于一位边学边干的总统来说，这是个可喜的迹象。