under the says it will take military action in the persian gulf if the islamic state carries out its threat. and lies in your group has published an article outlining his plans to battle corruption strengthen civil society and tackle poverty as part of his campaign to return as president with the election now less than two months away from. the us has its fingers in many pies around the world but it's trouble on the home front that the republican presidential candidates are using to try and prove their voters american foreign policy scholar john ferrer explains now how there was actually very little to choose between them. i. thank you for joining us on r.t. thank you for having me on the show. let's start with the g.o.p. wrestles in iowa do you think they indicate an ideological divide among the g.o.p. well i think in general the g.o.p. is has a consensus certainly

a consensus on economic matters they don't want government interference in the market and this is a consensus that even includes ron paul if you look a little closer at some foreign policy issues there's a little bit of a difference with ron paul obviously being the outlier wants to scale back u.s. role in the world the rest of. the way or the other take more harker's positions in the current obama administration sure there's a general consensus there too so i don't think there's a lot of differences between the republican plan or i mean santorum comes from a completely different school than mitt romney and ron paul. they certainly do they're appealing though to some of the same voters and i think in a general election we of course would see the republican candidate move toward the center in order to get as much of the center and independent votes as possible but right now during the primaries they're pretty much going to be clustered around the same kind of positions and they're running against the obama administration and

there isn't a lot of difference between them we've seen their positions we've heard their positions on countries like iran right now way which is the hot spot what role do you think they foreign policy play in their campaign right now to be honest foreign policy doesn't play much of a role in part because the obama administration has taken foreign policy off the table certainly national security issues it's very difficult to run to the right of barack obama foreign policy after what he's done the killing of osama bin laden. the expansion of drone war in pakistan but it's also difficult to run on the left either around him because of course he's only in the war in iraq so he's a central don't criticize him they still criticize him but it doesn't really get him a lot of leverage or a lot of interest from the media you know the red meat issues for the republicans are going to be the economy and some cultural issues as well foreign policy you

know i mean it's as herman cain said i don't know where he was back a back up back a stand is i mean that unfortunately is a popular position in the electorate here in the united states a kind of will for all willful ignorance of what's going on in the world and yet that might harm their position on local issues i mean when they're talking more when they're talking to iran they seem to be connecting the foreign policy when. here at home well they they sometimes do and you know they're always trying to make a point to nektar to the economy whether it has to do with reducing military spending or increase in military spending ultimately it's got to come back to what we call pocketbook issues i mean what americans have in the last couple of elections voted on that is jobs you know the pointed issue you know whether they

have houses you know the foreclosure more dangerous. general kind of healing about the u.s. economy generally judy trade balance and so forth those are going to be the key issues at the end of the day for the republicans and me of course we have to appear presidential they have to talk about foreign policy but they know alternately that that's mostly for show i mean when they really want to appeal to voters they really have to grab the bottle once and they kind of me it's not going to get any better well that's hard to say i mean even economists have difficulty predicting what's happening with the economy. we've seen a slight improvement with the unemployment rate i think for the president the most important thing is perception if americans feel that the economy is getting better they tend to overlook the numbers. but they don't want it to look better now as long as obama still president. the republicans yeah oh absolutely. the breaux

publicans have been doom and gloom i mean this has been their bread and butter during the campaign if they can make it seem as though the world is getting increasingly worse they themselves will be superman who comes in to save the situation relations with countries. countries like north korea countries like china russia seem to be managed differently under. different presidents how do you think that's going to change now. for the remainder of their i mean yes the year well president obama made a big point at the apec meeting and why to say you know we're we're making the pacific pivot you know we're moving away from the middle east and we're going to focus more on asia. in some sense be wishful thinking because of course in the united states has a certain limited range in terms of foreign policy opportunities it basically is still in afghanistan still has to deal with iran and pakistan still do dealing with the aftermath of iraq still dealing with the arab spring in the aftermath there

it's very difficult for the united states to to make a pivot like this so it's more of an aspirational pivot it's what the obama administration would like to do and so it's made a couple of gestures by putting some more marines in australia by saying that we're going to kind of focus more on china but whether will actually see some concrete changes it's going to be very difficult. you know what the obama administration has already done a modest opening to burma a very very bottom scope and north korea. the president doesn't have a lot of political capital that he doesn't want to waste it initiatives that might appear from republican critics to be appeasement so appeasing china appeasing north korea peace in burma he doesn't want to get into a situation in which if there is officially now especially in the lead up to the elections were either congress or the republican candidates can say we told you we

told you this guy likes to sit down with dictators we would have none of that if we were president does that mean that the u.s. is changing its strategy in that region in the i mean in the middle east and in strategy in general not just in middle east you know i think the obama administration is have a. pretty clear trajectory for the last three years it's tried to extricate the united states from the worst kind of legacies of the previous administration primarily in iraq but also looking ahead in afghanistan but at the same time dealing with what has been considered a key issue and that is counterterrorism and the perception that democrats are weak on national defense issues and so the president has been very careful to say hey you know we will go to war if necessary and we will use force when necessary so i think this balance will continue for the remainder of his term all of the

presidential candidates. make israel the centerpiece of their foreign policy discussions do you think it's because it's really the most important foreign security issue for them or are. elections well it's primarily elections i mean if you look at the obama administration's position toward israel. even israel will say it's been the best relations in a long time. the obama administration opposed palestinian initiatives in the us going after statehood continued military support of israel doff basically when netanyahu refused to do anything on the settlements issue again there's been some aspirational language with the united states would like to happen in solving the arab israeli disputes but generally speaking there has been no transformation of the united states remains from years of research all republican candidates are thinking well there are two constituencies who want to reach out to one of our

evangelicals evangelicals who have very strongly said that we stand with israel and the others jewish voters who if they can peel them away from obama would be a great coup in the two thousand and twelve election could you elaborate a little bit more about that specially with the g.o.p. presidential candidates right now and was specially after what you said that obama has done everything to what seems to be appeasing israel yet the candidates the g.o.p. candidates are saying that he has not done enough that's right i mean it makes for good headlines i mean strangely it might seem because of course it seems like the republican candidates are trying to outdo themselves in saying that they're friends of israel even to the point of almost outsourcing foreign policy decisions to netanyahu with the debate between romney and gingrich who would you know call netanyahu to get approval prior to any kind of u.s. policy which in some sense is unheard of in u.s. foreign policy circles again i think this is primarily because of who they were

looking toward in iowa and the constituency in iowa there was a perception that maybe whoever kind of grabs hold of the evangelical vote will be able to determine you know the course of iowa and to a certain extent. that was smart politics whether this will translate into a real election year issue when the republican candidate is chosen i doubt it i don't know i can't really see mitt romney using the israel issue to much advantage come the fall but certainly in the republican primaries it's useful politics and now with the arab revolutions do you think that has anything to do or affect in any way that presidential candidates campaigns i would like it to you of course this is a major event on the world stage unfortunately the united states is rather poor especially with our elections and sometimes even the greatest transformations have very little effect on politics here in this country of course there were some statements by michele bachmann of course to try to suggest that the president had

made a mistake by aligning himself with arab spring protesters because that would assure in islamists and this of course was the greatest fear for michele bachmann and several other republican candidates beyond that no effectively you know obama from a from a strategic point of view could leave moral questions to the side but from a strategic point of view do quite a good job he didn't dive in he waited and then divorced himself from problematic u.s. alliances with mubarak for instance in egypt. said he would lead from behind in libya which seemed to be in hindsight a smart strategy as well so this essentially protected his flank against a republican is this issue it's going to be hard for the time in the michele bachmann has to go kind of out on the live you know in with a rather farfetched argument in order to try to attack the president on his

positions on the arab spring so like it or not i think the president has taken arab spring off the table as well as an election year thing so i mean with the fact that they have gone into war and we. and that was criticized criticized by john mccain it was endorsing mitt romney that's right now mind you if the situation in libya deteriorates if the situation in egypt deteriorates if we have full scale civil war in syria that's another matter but the situations as they stand now with elections in egypt with the situation relatively stable in. libya and the situation of course is not good in syria but the level of violence hasn't escalated to an all out civil war. status quo if that remains i don't think some of the election year issue thank you very much for joining us and i.

party's top stories the arab league at loggerheads all caps are calls for intervention in syria other members warn it could lead to region wide on the rest meanwhile damascus has announced a general amnesty for political prisoners in accordance with the peace by. the u.k. obviously empty against the wrong person for a tough new oil embargo which tehran's promised to counter by blocking a vital transit route london says it will take military action in the persian gulf if the islamic state carries out the threat. and by the reports it has published an article outlining his plans to battle corruption strengthen civil society and

tackle poverty as part of his campaign to return as president with the election now less than three months away. from next it's the latest with all of the sports news with kate. hello welcome to the latest sports news on the first day of the australian open and yet at the top stories inside and out rafael nadal overcomes injury to go through with roger federer but a number of asco and nikolai double tango blowout on an action packed first day time in melbourne. while top form defending champion prizes and top ranked come on both the outfield are among the big names winning their openers on the women's side of the draw. and pakistan and the giants upset champions preening badly while baltimore beat him used in the battle to decide the super bowl finalist steps up in the n.f.l. . first to tennis where world number two rafael nadal has overcome

a knee injury to spearhead this needs child into the second round of the australian open in melbourne the spaniard sealed the deal with his ninth place against american qualifier makes it sort of six four six one six one was the final score germany's tommy haas is up next while thirty one defender i was also uneasy were not against russian qualifier and xander could grow up so seven five six two six two was the way this one finished. however it was a nightmare struggle of the russian film out world number three crashed out in five sets italy's gladio to follow and later admitted his new racquet was giving him a lot of problems during that defeat while local by rich bernard tomic is through to round two after he fought back to beach twenty second seed in and over the asco in a five cent thriller the nineteen year old came from two sets down to win he said his mental strength is the key to his victory. you're going to miss it's very hard in

the position to sit still love him having three said points in seconds. you know it was someone else i think you know but you know i don't i mean as you today i knew. you had so many chances to me and second you know as one of the reasons that made me push to and. got some confidence. going on martin del potro is also through the argentinean drops the first set against his little known french opponent. however the former u.s. open champion recovered to record victory in just under three hours sealing it with this fine exchange than it. had on the women's side caroline wozniacki was every inch the world number one that years as the top ranked dane swept aside local hopeful understeer i don't have to get off to the quick start had quest for a grand slam. and reigning champion kim clijsters was taken the distance in the first set for drop just one game in the second the belgian mother saw

a horse be disqualified that is as her last seven five six one. third see her as a wrinkle hardly broke sweat about comprehensive six one six love defeat of heather watson great britain the twenty two year old belarusian had far more power from the baseline for her opponent outside the world top hundred or easy for. you said the hardest thing was trying to work yourself up in the morning. actually i didn't get my coffee in the morning to say i was really pissed. so tomorrow i'm definitely getting it was so early and i wanted to come play. a little bit longer and sent a quote that was everything was closed in my coffee so i can try and talk with my eyes without it. over last year's beaten finalist in french open champion li not a few seeded this and came out an easy six three six one winner against going back

used to represent russia but it's an airplane that has expanded. elsewhere in the crimea that you guys are shocked nine hundred see flavia pennetta in three sets but patrick aliquid that's about is out after going down in three sets to four years on mentee eight for france. the n.f.l. now eli manning was the star of the new york giants stunned draining super bowl champions the green bay packers thirty seven twenty one both failed to win the n.f.c. divisional playoffs while the major upset didn't look on the cards with the game even poised going into the half time break but on the last play before the intermission manager picked up hockey sticks with a thirty seven yard pass to give new york a twenty ten lead all the home side then struggled to get back into the game and were guilty of giving away too many turnovers switched around effectively sealed their place in the n.f.c. championship game and manning threw

a four yard touchdown pass to mario manningham to give the business a thirteen thirteen lead in the fourth thirty seven twenty is how it finished in new york the next day san francisco for a place in the super bowl. for me while the baltimore ravens beat the hussein texans twenty thirteen to reach the a.f.c. championship game for the second time in four seasons despite falling behind to an early field goal the ravens were soon front joe flacco throwing a one yard touchdown pass to chris. well some hindsight seven through the head. go to the back again connect with and from the golden ratings seventy three advantage at the end of the first quarter but five minutes before half. one yard touchdown run by our own plastic trim the deficit the seventeen thirteen hours that both the fans remain resolute despite your best efforts were unable to save the time since the ravens will not meet tom brady's year england patriots.

staying in america and in the n.b.a. utah one for the second time in as many days to overpower the denver nuggets one hundred sixty ninety six on the road it proved to be a tight game until the fourth quarter later the second hour and after that when i get in front forty eight forty six and then you still got the jazz you gain the advantage in the first gordon hayward finishing this dunk after nice and still to make it sixty seven sixty two to utah and the fourth quarter of zero was all about you and sixteen points in the last twelve minutes if you try that one three hundred twelve games this season and they leave for going into second in the northwest a vision. well as well the golden state warriors claims their first win on the road winning ninety nine ninety one in detroit and twenty four points from tim duncan helped someone so young and preserve their unbeaten home record as they beat the suns one hundred ninety one. football now and also hopes of closing in on the

premier league top four were dented on sunday night after their last three two in a thriller it's one of the city sunday i shall then set out running van persie to open for the gunners after five minutes from the home side though it was soon level through scots into those panels a nice and the outside ahead in the second half theo walcott made it to two on sixty nine minutes but this one is immediately went out the other end in school but we're not really danny graham meanwhile early on the best netted the winner is newcastle went six with a one zero win at home to q.p.r. while also a fifth manager ass and bag of blame the defeat on defensive areas were different your performance was not good enough. and that's why we lost a game where when you came back at two to our forward we had a good chance to win the game because we looked like we could be dangerous to keep at them as well after. in the game and and made some great saves and i think that is where we missed some unbelievable chances. so i

second noun tesco running catch up champion salad that's why it's for you want to highwinds to clinch the third win in iraq and this that calls for a playoff spot in the western conference i thought on your reports. cisco used to be one of the most degraded sites in soviet hockey but well it has changed over the last twenty years now the club is struggling to return to the summit over the kitchen and facing the leaks reigning champ in slovakia life wasn't porton dest only way and the only man blasted in the two what twenty eleven they won of the foresight and then the sunday they met again in moscow where the hosts broncos showed their intentions through that success and the condition of moves around the visitors do with the books we showed seven minutes in one eye the home side kept up their pressure grading more goal scoring chances

and they were soon rewarded domo sure always finding net from the blue line to extend their men's lead to new. labor the second period so solid fired back with one of the league's most skilful players and then never gives up alexander a living the visitor special however they only managed to break the deadlock after the second internation. i just over a minute into the third you could never move gives all of a gleam of hope to me. but i kept breaking through the amens defense with this individual efforts but i wasn't enough to realise in ones is the town's flailed the hosts scored again so only because the puck brink of the entire length of the rink and wrapped up the scoring rewind to news and time again. only can see we did.

i think much of my point sal about we do we try to focus on our game and this approach worked we played groups defensively we managed to switch from defense to off and pretty quickly and effectively they're a very strong team so we had to do with some tough pressure in this game i'm very like the way we played tonight that we should keep it up we worked as a team we helped each other on the ice and we we tried to fight hard and battle hardened from about that sound you get to get electric today and they're very satisfied with this guy have the perfect record of two victories out of two games against going good going cup holders so what's in it for the other man looking to get even stronger really well known marty skill. and finally french when stephan better handle his kind unprecedented tense dakar rally title after crossing the line tens place in south america it was american robby gordon who won the fourteenth and final stage of the world's most famous insurance race as the

competitors arrived in lima the capital of peru but it was a forty six year old by the handful who celebrated his fourth overall title across a winning six motorcycle france in the one nine hundred ninety s. russia's lenny kravitz he was fourth overall frenchman sold upright prevailed in the vice category for a fourth time ahead of last year's winner mark of spain that challenged arroyo triumphed in the trucks. that's all sports news by. cultures that so much time in which are called his wife i can still hear it recasting america's global military strategy or just more of the same problem obama's new vision for the pentagon is a bit saving. more

news today violence has once again flared up. and these are the images the world

has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations rule today. the arab league at loggerheads wildcatter calls for intervention in syria other members warn it could lead to a region wide unaddressed that says damascus announces an amnesty for political prisoners in accordance with the peace plan. the u.k. arms the ante against iran pushing for a tougher e.u. oil embargo which tehran's promise to counter by blocking a vital transit route. to the u.k. says it will take military action in the persian gulf if these limits they all is through with its threats joining me from london in just a few moments. and in other news led to me reports.