putas published an article about his plans to battle corruption to strengthen civic society and to tackle poverty is part of his campaign to return as president to the election less than two months away. the u.s. projects his influence all around the world but it's trouble on the home front that the republican presidential candidates are using right now to try and remove his american foreign policy scholar john fether explains now how there's actually very little to choose between. 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 an eye on what do you think they indicate an ideological divide among the g.o.p. well i think in general the g.o.p. 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 position on the scene 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 although 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 of countries like iran right now where it 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 and 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 when they're talking more when they're talking to iran they seem to be connecting the foreign policy with the here at home well that they sometimes do and you know they're always trying to make a point connected to the economy whether it has to do with say reducing military spending or increasing 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 unemployment issue you know whether they have houses you know the foreclosures are more dangerous. generally the kind of healing about the u.s.

economy in general 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 you 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 them by their wallets 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. 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 brit 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 a 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 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 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 press. doesn't have a lot of political capital it doesn't want to waste it initiatives it 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 eventually now especially in the lead up to the elections where 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 mid i mean in the middle east and in strategy in general not just in middle east you know i think the obama administration has had 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 what 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 for hours of research the 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 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 it 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 usher

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 indeed from behind in libya which seemed to be in hindsight a smart strategy as well so this essentially protected his flank against to a publican's this issue it's going to be hard for the time in the michele bachmann has to go kind of out on the limb you know and 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 to war and we. and that was quite a sight criticized by john mccain it was indoor saying 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.

wealthy british scientists it's time to.

market. find out what's really happening to the global economy for a look at the global financial headlines tune into. headlines from all to the arab league of loggerheads while qatar calls for intervention in syria. could lead to. rest we want to pass because this amounts to a general amnesty for political prisoners in accordance with the peace plan. the u.k. up against a run pushing for a tougher you all and blogger which to run is probably still countered by blocking a boy who says it will take military action in the persian gulf if the islamic state carries out its threat. but in a putin's published an article outlining his plans to tackle corruption to strengthen civic society and to tackle poverty it's part of his campaign to return

as president for the election no less than two months away. this is our sport. hello welcome to the sports round up and here are the headlines. i was up munched the city look to regain their three point lead at the top of the english premier league victory at rock bottom we're going to this monday night while in and out rough on the dollar becomes injury to go through with roger federer and i would ask don't tell on day one and destroyed you know the. top four defending champion kim clijsters and top ranked caroline wozniacki win their openness in the women's draw in melbourne. the first to football and manchester city will be looking to reclaim their three point lead at the top of the premier league table this monday night as they go to rock bottom neighbors wigan city who lead rivals manchester united by

goal difference with this cave in and come into the back of this match of two successive cup defeats and just more win in truly games while the last six occurred in during their worst ever witnessed run at home eight games and an f.a. cup defeat at fourth tier swindon well meanwhile into man have tabled an almost thirty two million dollars bid for city striker carlos tevez but it's unlikely to meet the club's valuation for the argentina star in his rivals ac milan withdrew from talks to sign the twenty seven year old on thursday after alexander a part of refused to join paris sundra milan had already agreed personal terms with between forced to pull out of negotiations p.s.g. themselves have also expressed interest in tatters who hasn't played this is the sense there to know when it's time to gardening on september the twenty first for me while both chelsea have announced they've completed the signing of england's central defender gary cahill from both sides the twenty six year old has reportedly set the blues back just over ten million dollars manager under a blush for us first when deciding underwent

a medical on saturday and then launched his new side when one nil as had just on the land. meanwhile chelsea forward salomon kalou scored the winner as the ivory coast beat libya one nil in a friendly in abu dhabi then count it was a warm up for the africa cup of nations which is due to kick off on saturday fellow blues teammates did a draw but went close to half an hour but was denied by the woodwork. so here's a good read it is saved early in the second half however eventually headed home the only goal of a somewhat lopsided match on fifty nine minutes to give a cup of nations contenders the elephants a predictable victory. moving on to tennis well world number two rafael nadal overcame a knee injury to spearhead the seeds charge into the second round this trail you know when the spine is sealed the deal with his ninth race against american qualifier it is not so off six four six one six one is the final score germany's tommy haas is up next well in the dark roger federer result the tournament

disagreement about the tennis calendar after the third seed cruised past russian qualifier xander. things were. fine between us you know. hard feelings towards him you know it's been. a difficult last few months in terms of politics within the a.t.p. trying to find a new c.e.o. and chairman. that can get frustrating sometimes you know he's mentioned many times so it's a bit tired and frustrated through the whole process and i share that with him you know it's normal but for me obviously nothing changes in terms of our relationship . in the meantime it was a nightmare start and. russian former world number three crashed out in five sets to flabbier to follow and later admitted his new racquet was giving him a lot of problems however like a favorite to bernard tomic is strange around too often he fought back to beat

twenty second seed fernando verdasco in a five set thriller the nineteen year old came from two sets down and said his mental strength was the key to his victory. there one thing this is it's very hard in the position to love having three set points in the second set and you know it was someone else i think you know during the tell but. i don't know. that i knew him and you know i had certainly chances to mean first and second i mean as one of the reasons that made me push through in the absence of some confidence. from martin del potro is also three the argentinian drops the first set against his little learning french open. our brianna reno however the former u.s. open champion recovered to record victory in just under three hours sealing it with a fine exchange that. turned on the women's side caroline wozniacki lived up to her world number one status as the top ranked dane swept aside local hopeful anastasio to join over to get her quest for a maiden grand slam title off to

a quick start. and reigning champion kim clijsters was taking the distance in the first set but dropped just one game in the second is the belgians were of portuguese qualifier maria yell curler seven five six one. while the pictorial as a wrinkle hardly broke a sweat in her comprehensive six one six love defeat of great britain's heather watson the twenty two year old by the russian had too much power from the baseline for her opponent is ranked outside the world's top one hundred over easy for as our anchor who said the hardest thing was trying to wake up in the morning. meanwhile last year a finalist and french open champion lino out of china is seeded first and came at an easy six three six one winner against because then you're part of back you used to represent russia but is now playing for kazakstan. elsewhere russian qualifier you know such

a diverse shot nineteen seed flavia pennetta in three sets bouts compadres alex who drops of is out after going down in three cents to comment for france. on to american football now eli manning was the star as the new york giants stunned reigning super bowl champions the green bay packers thirty seven twenty at lambeau field to win the n.f.c. divisional playoff well a major upset didn't look on the cards with the game evenly poised going into the half time break but on the last play before the intermission i mean picked out a key mix with a thirty seven yard pass with new york a twenty ten lead and the home side struggles to get back into the game and were guilty of giving away too many turnovers and the giants effectively sealed their place in the n.f.c. championship game when manning threw a four yard touchdown pass to mario manningham to give the visitors a thirty thirteen lead in the fourth and final score again thirty seven twenty and york will next play san francisco for a place in the super bowl. meanwhile the baltimore ravens beat the houston texans

twenty thirteen to reach the a.f.c. championship game for the second time in four seasons who despite falling behind to an early field goal the ravens were soon in front joe flacco throwing a one yard touchdown pass to chris wilson the home side seven straight ahead and the baltimore quarterback again connected with adam bolden to keep the ravens a seventeen three advantage at the end of the first quarter about five minutes before half time a one yard touchdown run by arian foster trimmed the deficits to seventeen thirteen however baltimore's defense remained resolute and despite recent best efforts they were unable to force overtime so it's the ravens from miami tom brady's new england patriots. winter sports now and after a seven year gold medal drought russia have a new freestyle skiing hopeful teenager puddle cult of pulling off a surprise ariel's win the season opening world cup events in canada then you

formats will see only the top four skiers slug it out in the super final and the russian nineteen year olds jump wow the judges the most to outpoint home favorite alleviated rochelle nigeria claimed bronze to give japan their first ever world cup aerials medal russia's previous freestyle top gong came back in two thousand and five when now coach dimitri occupy of prevailed in the moguls event. and finally to ice hockey were take on moscow beach reigning pair tell champion cell about your lie of three one on home ice to clinch their third win in a row and boost their claims for a playoff spot in the western conference roberts but only on reports. sysco used to be one of the most degraded sites in soviet hockey but quite a lot has changed over the last twenty years now the club is struggling to return to the summit of the cape shell and facing the leaks reigning champ and so lucky alive was an important test own the way and the only man passed it in the two with

twenty eleven they won at the site and then on sunday they met again in moscow where the hosts promptly showed their intentions to repeat that success and the condition of moves around the visit there was gold kilmeade with. seven minutes in one eye the home side kept up their pressure creating more goal scoring chances and they were soon rewarded the most surreal week finding that from the blue line to extend their men's lead to nil i know ever the second period so solid fired back with one of the league's most skilful players and men never gives up alex under a new of letting the visitors assault however they only managed to break the deadlock after the second intermission. just over a minute into the third he got

a little north gave solid a glimmer of hope to one. or the of get breaking through the amens defense with his individual efforts but it wasn't enough to call ice and once his attempts failed the hosts scored again. because the park sprints of the entire length of the rink and wrapped up the scoring three one two minutes from time game over i mean you can see we didn't think much of my points toward two we tried to focus on our game and this approach worked we played groups defensively we managed to switch from the fans too often pretty quick. under fixedly they're a very strong team so we had to do with some tough pressure in this game and i like the way we played tonight we should keep it up but as a team we help each other on the ice and we try to to fight hard in a battle hardened final both nights and we get to get electric today. for satisfy

us this guy have the perfect record of two victories out of two games against scoring gunning cup holders so also for the other men now looking to get even stronger for a bit well known marty i that's all the support for the saving but still. plan. well into the future thank science technology innovation all the latest developments from around russia we've got the future covered.

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told stories tonight the arab league of loggerheads while qatar calls for intervention in syria other members want it could lead to region wide on rest that says damascus announces an amnesty for political prisoners in accordance with the peace plan. london ups the ante against iran pushing for a toughie all embargoed which to run some promise to counter by blocking a vital trance a group. will take military action in the persian gulf if the islamic state follows through with its threat strongly from london in just a few moments. and within a putin reveals his plans to battle corrupt should attack.