Romney’s views of America’s role in the world have been shaped by his public service, extensive business background, and his missionary service abroad in France. As a candidate during the ’08 campaigns, Romney traveled to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, and he returned to Afghanistan in January 2011. While Olympic Committee CEO and business executive, he traveled to more than 30 countries.

Romney’s foreign policy calls for the United States to lead in today’s world. In an address at the Citadel in fall 2011, he called on the United States to exercise diplomatic power before turning to military solutions, better leverage allies like NATO, and invest in development programs like education and health. He proposed restructuring of U.S. foreign policy so that a single individual is accountable for all civilian interventions for a specific region, aligned with the regional military commands. He has also called for promoting increased economic engagement abroad through a strong free-trade agenda.

He has been broadly supportive of “soft power” in foreign policy. In his 2010 campaign book No Apology, he wrote, “In a world in which we can encounter both regional and global challenges, America must act decisively to build and exercise greater soft power. It is relatively inexpensive, it can help us promote freedom, and it may spare us from the tragedy and cost of armed conflict.” His campaign foreign policy white paper adds, “The tools of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power must work together to be effective. They are complements not substitutes for one another.”

Romney has offered few specifics in areas such as development and global health and made some concerning comments about foreign assistance, including cutting aid to “countries that oppose America’s interests” (in an op-ed in USA Today). When asked about support for Pepfar and AIDS programs, he said, “At a time when we are borrowing money to pay for things, I’m very reluctant to borrow lots more money to be able to do wonderful things, if those things can be done by people making charitable contributions or by other countries that are wealthy.”

Romney on America’s Global Leadership

“The United States will apply the full spectrum of hard and soft power to influence events before they erupt into conflict…The tools of “hard” and “soft” power must work together to be effective. They are complements not substitutes for one another. (Campaign foreign policy white paper, October 2011)¹

“The conviction that the founders, when they wrote the Declaration of Independence, were writing a document that was not just temporary and not just for one small locale but really something which described the relationship between God and man — that’s something which I think a president would carry in his heart. So when they said, for instance, that the creator had “endowed us with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” I would seek to assure that those principles and values remain in America and that we help share them with other people in the world, not by conquering them, but by helping them through our trade, through our various forms of soft power, to help bring people the joy and — and — and opportunity that exists in this great land.” (GOP Debate, January 2012)² – Watch the video

“Foreign aid has several elements; one of those elements is defense. It is to make sure we are able to have the defense resources we want in certain places in the world. That probably ought to fall under the Department of Defense budget rather than the foreign aid budget. Part of it is humanitarian aid around the world. I happen to think it doesn’t make a lot of sense for us to borrow money from the Chinese to go give to another country for humanitarian aid. We ought to get the Chinese to take care of the people that are taking that humanitarian aid today…But let me tell you, we’re spending more in foreign aid than we ought to be spending.” (GOP Las Vegas debate, October 2011)³

“End foreign aid to countries that oppose America’s interests.” (Op-ed in USA Today, November 2011)⁴

“At a time when we are borrowing money to pay for things, I’m very reluctant to borrow lots more money to be able to do wonderful things, if those things can be done by people making charitable contributions or by other countries that are wealthy.” (Response when asked at a campaign event if he would continue support for HIV/AIDS programs like PEPFAR, August 2011)⁵

“Soft power’ is real power. America must capitalize on the appeal of liberty, free enterprise, and our historical generosity toward nations in need to attract allies—old and new—to the cause of liberty and peace.” (From campaign website)⁶

“If elected, one of my first acts as president would be to call for a summit of nations to address [development issues in the Middle East]. I would envision that the Summit would lead to the creation of a Partnership for Prosperity and Progress, a new type of Marshall Plan. This partnership would assemble resources from developed nations to work to assure that threatened Islamic states had public schools, not Wahhabi madrassas, micro credit and banking, the rule of law, human rights, basic healthcare, and competitive economic policies. The resources would be drawn from public and private institutions, and from volunteers and NGOs. And policies would favor expansion of free trade and investment.” (Speech at American Enterprise Institute in Colorado, June 2007)⁷

Romney on Trade

“We have trade policies that open up new markets to American goods. And I lay out a number of things that I would do in that 59 points to open up more markets to American goods.” (Bloomberg Washington Post Debate, October 2011)⁸ – Watch the video

“Access to foreign markets is crucial to growing our economy. We must reassert American leadership in international negotiations, follow through on commitments we have already made, and push aggressively for advantageous new agreements.” (Campaign website)⁹

“Our economy is rapidly changing. Some of the steps we must take to restart economic growth—for instance, expanding trade relationships and developing new sources of energy—will only hasten that evolution.” (Campaign website)¹⁰

“We’d like to see more [trade] agreements, not fewer, to improve the economic well-being of our neighborhood. Trade lifts all nations that participate.” (Campaign speech, July 2007)¹¹

Videos

1. http://mittromney.com/blogs/mitts-view/2011/10/mitt-romney-delivers-remarks-us-foreign-policy
2. http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2012/01/gop_cnn_florida_debate_jan_26_.html
3. http://politisite.com/2011/10/18/transcript-cnn-wrlc-western-republican-presidential-debate-las-vegas-october-18-2011-full-text/
4. http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/story/2011-11-03/mitt-romney-budget-plan/51063454/1
5. http://thinkprogress.org/health/2011/10/11/340535/romney-im-very-reluctant-to-borrow-lots-more-money-to-fund-global-aids-prevention-programs/
6. http://mittromney.com/issues/foreign-policy
7. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4586.html
8. http://www.nationaljournal.com/2012-presidential-campaign/full-transcript-bloomberg-washington-post-gop-debate-in-n-h–20111011
9. http://www.mittromney.com/issues/job-creation
10. http://www.mittromney.com/issues/job-creation
11. http://www.wmur.com/politics/13779189/detail.html