Psst... Let's Talk (Foreign) Affairs; Americans have not had a serious presidential debate over foreign policy since Jimmy Carter vs. Ronald Reagan. That was a generation ago.

Publication: Newsweek

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Byline: Fareed Zakaria, Write the author at comments@fareedzakaria.com.

Once we've worked through the various scandals, rumors and gossip surrounding the American presidential election, could we please have a substantive discussion? In nine months the United States will elect the most powerful individual in the world. Conventional wisdom is that all elections are mainly about economics, and that might well be true. But for the first time in decades we have a chance at having a serious national conversation about foreign policy. In the last two-and-a-half years the United States has been attacked by terrorists, has waged a global war on terror in response, has overthrown two governments and is still fighting guerrillas in Iraq and Afghanistan, while trying to rebuild these societies at the cost...

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